The Clans Far Far Away
by EmeraldGamer3330
Summary: Coincidentally, these clans happen to be exactly like the other clans. Another weird coincidence? The leaders have the same name as their clans. No one can remember how these clans originated, but the elders in the clans believe that the clans have existed for moons. Silverpaw, the daughter of Mountainstar, leader of Mountainclan, must choose her path, with her love, or her clan.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: This is my first story so constructive criticism is appreciated! I apologize in advance for any and all spelling and grammatical errors I may have not caught.**_

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A loud clap of thunder and flash of lightning caused the brown tabby to flinch and blink his eyes at the sudden flash of light in the darkness of night. Rain poured down on the shelter of the fallen log as the brown tabby turned towards the beautiful silver tabby queen. She lay on the ground, her belly swollen with kits as she breathed heavily with the pain of kitting. The brown tom watched her with worry glimmering in his eyes.

"Come on, Twilight," the brown tabby mewed. "You've got to let me get a medicine cat."

"No," she hissed. "You can't. If you do, they'll know about us."

"But you'll die without one! Our kits need their mother!"

Twilight let out a groan of pain in response as she lay there. Desperately, the brown tom ran out into the rain and ran all the way to the Mountainclan camp.

"Leaffeather!" he yowled. A tortoiseshell head popped out of the cave-like den. She blinked the drowsiness out of her eyes before she gave him a look of confusion.

"What's going on?" she inquired.

"I need you to come with me," he panted. "Please don't question it, just come."

Leaffeather stared into the brown tabby's eyes before a look of understanding flashed in her eyes. She turned and retreated into her den and after a few heartbeats, came out with a leaf bundle with the pungent smell of herbs in them. Before the tom could question anything she gestured for him to show the way and they both raced off into the forest. It took a short run to reach the fallen log again and Leaffeather dropped her herb bundle in shock to see the queen barely moving and the faint rise and fall of her chest.

Instantly, Leaffeather began to sniff Twilight and inspect her for injuries. She took out a few herbs and force-fed them to Twilight.

Leaffeather turned to the brown tabby. "Go get a stick, something sturdy for her to bite on when the pain comes." The tom stared in shock before Leaffeather lashed her tail impatiently and let out a small hiss before he shot off into the forest and came back with a stick.

Leaffeather thrust the stick in front of Twilight's mouth and ordered her to bite on it, but the queen let out a feeble mew and barely managed to get the piece of wood into her mouth. When dawn broke, Twilight had two bundles of fur at her belly, both squirming about. The brown tom looked at his kits in awe and licked Twilight comfortingly around the ears.

"Look," he purred. "They're our kits. Look how beautiful they are."

Twilight opened her eyes and purred. "Yes, and they will grow up to be fine warriors in your clan."

"What about you?" he asked before realization hit him. He turned to Leaffeather who gave him a look of pity and sadness before he let out a wail of grief. Twilight turned to Leaffeather and gave her a look of appreciation before she closed her eyes and lay still. The brown tom drooped his head and tail and fell to the ground and held his kits close, licking both. Leaffeather placed her tail on the tom's shoulder before speaking.

"We must bring the kits to a queen. They need milk."

"You go," the tom mewed, grief thickening his voice. "I must stay here with Twilight and bury her."

Leaffeather nodded her head in understanding before picking up the two kits and walked outside the log. She turned her head and meowed "Make sure you come back to camp soon. You can't stay here forever. These kits have just lost their mother, they cannot lose their father too." before trotting off into the woods. Leaffeather entered camp and walked into the nursery. A gray she-cat was curled up in a nest along with two kits. Leaffeather gently woke her up and led her outside of camp to speak.

"Fogfur," Leaffeather mewed quietly. "I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?" Fogfur asked. "I hope it's important. I don't want to leave my kits for too long."

"I was wondering if it's possible for you to take two more kits with you." Leaffeather asked, dropping the two kits down in front of her. "They've just lost their mother and they need a queen to take them in."

Fogfur looked at the two kits before a wave of sympathy flooded her and won her over. She bent over and picked up the two kits and nodded and Leaffeather purred. Fogfur walked back inside the nursery and allowed the two kits to suckle and sleep with her. Leaffeather walked back into the medicine den and was about to curl back up and try to sleep before she saw the brown tom walk back inside the camp. They made eye contact and shared a look of understanding before they settled back down and fell asleep for the remainder of the day.

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_**A/N: Well, here's the prologue! I'll try to update regularly but school will be starting soon so when it does I won't be able to update as often. Also I won't be having a certain amount of words per chapter, I'll just keep writing until I think it's a good place to stop. Giving credit and shout out to my sister JaedDragon777 for co-owning the characters. Here are the allegiances for the story.**_

_**I hope you all enjoy!**_

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_**Allegiances:**_

**MOUNTAINCLAN**

Leader:

Mountainstar - brown tabby with dark gray stripes and flecks of silver

Deputy:

Snowybramble - dark tabby with white patches and white paws

Medicine Cat(s):

Leaffeather - tortoiseshell she-cat with a long feathery tail and white paws

Apprentice: Snowpaw

Warriors:

Sunfeather - ginger tabby with white stripes

Apprentice: Lilypaw

Nightfoot - black tom with a white tip-tail and piercing amber eyes

Icepelt - gray tabby with white stripes

Apprentice: Volepaw

Snowywhisker - white tabby with gray stripes and amber eyes

Cloudrock - brown tom with one white forepaw and green eyes

Apprentice: Mudpaw

Grassstream - light brown tabby with white paws

Antroot - brown tabby with black stripes and gray patches

Fogfur - gray she-cat with white paws and blue eyes

Apprentice: Crystalpaw

Pinetail - brown tabby she-cat with gray stripes and one black forepaw

Petalflower - pretty golden tabby with white paws

Waterfoot - gray tabby with white stripes and golden eyes

Hawkfeather - pretty brown tabby with green eyes

Shellfur - tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws

Barknose - brown tom with yellow-green eyes

Dewdrop - light gray she-cat with a white tip-tail

Apprentice: Silverpaw

Grayclaw - dark gray tom with black paws

Sandfur - light ginger she-cat with dark green eyes

Duststorm - gray-brown tom with dark ginger patches

Robinflight - brown she-cat with silver stripes on her legs

Emberclaw - dark ginger she-cat with bright amber eyes

Eagleshadow - black tabby with dark gray stripes and brown patches

Apprentice: Daisypaw

Mossywhisker - tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Frostwind - long furred white tom with icy blue eyes

Queens:

Yellowfur - gray she-cat with yellow eyes

Waspclaw - golden tabby with black stripes (mother to Beetlekit - black tom with one white forepaw, and Woodkit - brown tabby)

Waterfall - light gray she-cat with white flecks (mother to Rosekit - gray she-kit, Cloverkit - pale brown and gray she-kit, and Mistkit - pale gray she-kit)

Apprentices:

Silverpaw - silver and white tabby with white paws, a white tip-tail, and unusual blue eyes

Snowpaw - pure white she-cat with blue eyes

Lilypaw - light gray tabby with golden eyes

Volepaw - brown tom with green eyes

Mudpaw - dark brown tom

Crystalpaw - silver tabby with white stripes and a white tip-tail

Daisypaw - cream and brown she-cat with yellow eyes

Elders:

Tanglewhisker - brown tom with a large white forepaw

Badgerstripe - black she-cat with one white stripe down her face and legs

**ICECLAN**

Leader:

Icestar - powerful white tom with angry looking green eyes

Deputy:

Dewtail - gray she-cat with a dark gray tail

Medicine Cat(s):

Frostleaf - silver she-cat with green eyes

Warriors:

Iceclaw - white she-cat with dark gray flecks

Frozenwhisper - silver tabby with black ears and dark gray stripes

Pollonfur - golden tabby

Dawnfrost - tortoiseshell she-cat with silver flecks

Stormcloud - dark gray tom with one black forepaw

Misthawk - pale gray she-cat with dark brown patches

Apprentice: Lightningpaw

Amberwhisker - light ginger tabby with blue eyes

Frozentail - silver tabby with a pure white tail

Smokefang - black tabby with dark gray stripes

Sunnyriver - golden tabby with gray stripes

Apprentice: Flowerpaw

Flutterberry - small light brown tabby with golden eyes

Shrewfang - dark brown tom with amber eyes

Apprentice: Oceanpaw

Thrushclaw - brown tabby with dark brown patches

Blacktail - pure black tom with green eyes

Rivermouse - beautiful gray and silver she-cat

Thunderstreak - white tom with one gold stripe running down his back

Apprentice: Beachpaw

Mossfur - tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Foxfur - ginger she-cat

Shellclaw - gray tabby with ginger flecks

Birchtail - white tabby with black stripes

Ice-bergfang - pale gray tabby with white stripes and amber eyes

Queens:

Owlfeather - brown tabby with amber eyes (mother to Hawkkit - brown tabby with silver patches, and Jaykit - blue-gray she-kit)

Willowtail - pale gray and silver tabby (mother to Snakekit - black she-kit with small patches of silver, and Petalkit - pale gray and silver tabby)

Rosecloud - tortoiseshell she-cat with ginger paws (mother to Boulderkit - brown tabby with ginger paws and a white tip-tail)

Apprentices:

Lightningpaw - very pale ginger tom with golden stripes down his legs

Flowerpaw - tortoiseshell she-cat with golden eyes

Oceanpaw - dark gray she-cat with flecks of blue-gray

Beachpaw - sandy colored tom with gray flecks

Elders:

Seafeather - pale gray she-cat with ginger paws

Feathermouse - ginger she-cat with a feathery tail

**DARKCLAN**

Leader:

Darkstar - dark tabby with amber eyes

Deputy:

Thrushwing - brown tabby with dark ginger paws

Medicine Cat(s):

Petalleaf - brown tabby with white dapples on her pelt

Apprentice: Streampaw - silver tabby with light gray stripes and golden paws.

Warriors:

Hawkcloud - light brown tabby with white patches and paws

Pinefeather - dark brwon she-cat with feather-like ears

Apprentice: Oakpaw

Foxshadow - ginger tabby with black patches

Shadestream - light gray tabby

Starshadow - white tabby with black and dark gray stripes

Shadowwhisper - pure black she-cat with amber eyes

Emberdew - light ginger tabby with silver dapples

Apprentice: Mousepaw

Sandclaw - light ginger tom with dark ginger paws

Dustyshadows - dark ginger and black tabby

Mudstreak - dark brown tabby

Honeyfrost - golden and silver she-cat with green eyes

Cloudstream - white and silver tabby

Rabbitpelt - brown tom with a short white tail

Apprentice: Shellpaw

Nightwhisker - black she-cat with brown patches

Cloverdew - brown she-cat with silver-gray patches

Smokewhisker - dark brown tom with amber eyes

Petalpelt - tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Volefur - light gray tom with dark gray paws

Dawnhoney - light ginger tabby with cream patches and white paws

Apprentice: Jewlpaw

Sparktail - golden tabby with light brown stripes

Mossywhisker - tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws and tail

Queens:

Flowerdew - tortoiseshell she-cat with silver patches (mother to Moonkit - silver tabby with light ginger paws, and Sunkit - light ginger kit)

Clouddapple - tortoiseshell with many white patches (expecting)

Apprentices:

Jewlpaw - tortoiseshell she-cat with golden patches

Shellpaw - light gray tabby with light brown stripes

Oakpaw - brown tabby with amber eyes

Mousepaw - brown she-cat with a gray tip-tail

Elders:

Honeypetal - golden she-cat with patches of tortoiseshell on her pelt

Wavefoot - gray tabby with white stripes and a small golden patch on her belly.


	2. Chapter 1

"Oomph! Volekit, get off!" Silverkit squealed and Volekit purred in amusement and rolled off.

Silverkit barely had time to scramble to her feet before she heard Snowkit squeal "Attack!" and Silverkit was buried under Daisykit and Snowkit.

"Help!" Silverkit wailed playfully. "Clanmates, attack!"

Mudkit and Crystalkit both ran to pull Daisykit and Snowkit off Silverkit and they all tumbled around, playfighting. Lilykit sat watching, before she pounced into the fray and tackled Silverkit to the ground.

"Kits!" Fogfur called from the nursery. "You all better come and get yourselves cleaned up, or you'll look messy at your apprentice ceremony." The six kits all scrambled over and one by one, they all were groomed incredibly neatly just in time for Mountainstar to make his way to the Tall Rock.

He looked around and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather to hear my words!"

The Clan began to gather around and the six kits all sat lined up in front of Fogfur and Waterfall, the mother of Volekit, Lilykit, and Daisykit. Mountainstar waited until the whole Clan was present before speaking.

"Today we are here to celebrate the making of six new apprentices," his gaze swept across the clan and landed on the six kits all sitting proudly at the center of the clan.

Mountainstar beckoned Lilykit over with his tail. "Lilykit, come forward." Lilykit excitingly bounced over in front of Mountainstar, who had jumped down to stand at the bottom of the Tall rock. "Sunfeather!" he called over. A beautiful ginger tabby walked over and stood in front of Lilykit.

Silverkit leaned over to Crystalkit to whisper in her ear, "Lilykit's got Sunfeather!"

"Lucky Lilykit, Sunfeather's so nice!" she whispered back.

"From this moment on, this kit will be known as Lilypaw." Mountainstar nodded to Sunfeather and continued. "Sunfeather, you have proven yourself to be a loyal and valuable member of the clan. I trust you will pass on your knowledge to Lilypaw." Mountainstar stepped back to allow them to touch noses.

Sunfeather took a step forward and mewed "I'll do the best I can, Mountainstar." before touching noses with Lilypaw. The clan immediately erupted into cheers. "Lilypaw! Lilypaw! Lilypaw! Lilypaw!" Sunfeather led Lilypaw to a different side of camp and sat down next to her.

Volekit was next. Mountainstar beckoned Icepelt over and Volekit felt a wave of relief that his mentor wasn't like Nightfoot, who was always grumpy or like Hawkfeather, who was very strict.  
"From this day forward, this kit will be known as Volepaw. Your mentor will be Icepelt." As Volepaw walked forward, he saw friendliness in Icepelt's eyes. They touched noses and walked to the side to join Lilypaw with Sunfeather.

After Volepaw was Daisykit, whose mentor was Eagleshadow. Then was Mudkit who got Cloudrock as a mentor, just as Mudpaw had hoped for. After Mudpaw was Crystalkit whose mentor, surprisingly, turned out to be Fogfur.

"I understand that a mother mentoring her own kit is unusual," Mountainstar explained. "But both Fogfur and Crystalkit both requested each other to be their mentor and apprentice." He looked down at the two she-cats. "I shall watch your progress with interest." He mewed before dismissing them with a flick of his tail.

He then beckoned Silverkit forward, who walked over calmly, but deep down she was bursting with excitement. Silverkit looked up at Mountainstar and noticed he was giving her a strange look. It was unnerving, but it was different.

"From this moment on, this kit will be known as Silverpaw. Dewdrop will be your mentor." Mountainstar announced as a pretty light gray she-cat came forward and touched noses with Silverpaw.

Silverpaw heard her murmur "I promise I'll make you the best warrior you can be."

Silverpaw looked up and mewed, "And I promise I'll be the best apprentice you'll ever have! I won't let you down." Dewdrop led her over next to Crystalpaw and sat down. Silverpaw exchanged exciting glances with Crystalpaw before Silverpaw whispered.

"Snowkit's last! I wonder who her mentor will be." Silverpaw mewed and Crystalpaw nodded in agreement before Fogfur shushed them.

Snowkit walked forward happily and Mountainstar gave her a strange look as well. "From this day on, this kit will be known as Snowpaw." Mountainstar meowed.

"Leaffeather!"  
Silverpaw let out a gasp of shock. _Leaffeather! _Silverpaw thought. _But Snowpaw's never shown interest in becoming a medicine cat! _She looked at Snowpaw and saw her eyes glimmering happily. Silverpaw decided that as long as Snowpaw was happy, she was happy too.

"Snowpaw has shown interest in becoming Mountainclan's next medicine cat. Leaffeather," he nodded at the medicine cat, exchanging knowing glances. "I trust you'll pass on all the knowledge you currently possess onto young Snowpaw."

Leaffeather stepped forward and mewed "Of course," before touching noses with Snowpaw. The clan broke into cheers, cheering the names of all the apprentices.

Silverpaw looked around and noticed that all the other apprentices were celebrating with their littermates and parents. A wave of loneliness filled her before her sister, Snowpaw, pressed her flank against hers and purred encouragingly. Silverpaw shook her pelt before bouncing around excitedly. "What will we do first?" she asked Dewdrop.

"We can go tour the territory with all the other apprentices." Dewdrop gestured toward the other apprentices sitting together. The two cats walked over and joined the group.  
"Why don't we split into two groups?" Dewdrop offered. The other mentors nodded in agreement. "I'll take Silverpaw as well as Volepaw and Daisypaw and you two," Dewdrop nodded at Icepelt and Eagleshadow, "can join me."

The two groups split off towards different directions and Dewdrop led the group towards the mountains that covered a quarter of Mountainclan's territory. She led them to the edge where the trees cleared and you could see the mountains.

She stopped and flicked her tail at the mountains. "These are the mountains. It's what we were named after. They run so far that when you get to the top, you can still see stretches of mountains as far as the eye can see." Her gaze swept over the apprentices. "I don't recommend going to the top. There are large mountain cats that can eat an apprentice like you in two bites and hawks so big they could fly off with a grown cat. Our territory ends before the mountains start to really slope upwards. Most times when we hunt here you can find birds or maybe small animals catch."

Dewdrop began to walk in a different direction and stopped at a river. She turned towards the apprentices.

"Take a good sniff here," she instructed. All three apprentices stretched their necks forward and sniffed loudly. The strong scent of something fishy and wet filled their nostrils. "That's Iceclan. They're our biggest problems, always stealing prey and intruding on our land." Dewdrop growled.

"Get a good sniff and remember their scent. You'll need to recognize it soon." Dewdrop began to head along the river and walked for quite a while before stopping at a clear border. She explained that Darkclan resided past the border line in the pines. Silverpaw wrinkled her nose. _They have such a musty smell, it's disgusting! _Silverpaw thought.

They quickly explored the rest of their territory and headed back to camp at dusk

"Go get something to eat," Dewdrop told Silverpaw.

"Thank you!" Silverpaw mewed, rushing off to the prey pile, selecting a vole for herself and joining Crystalpaw and Lilypaw at the stump in front of the apprentices den.

"What'd you think of our territory?" Crystalpaw asked. "Isn't it great? We live next to a mountain! I'll bet none of the other clans has anything special like that in their territories."

"Yeah, Mountainclan is the best!" Lilypaw purred, tucking neatly into her rabbit. Silverpaw bent down to take a bite of her vole when she noticed Volepaw was watching her intently. She looked up and stared at him before he turned away and ate his mouse. Daisypaw narrowed her eyes at Silverpaw, and she gave her a confused look before turning her attention back on her vole.

Silverpaw walked over to Snowpaw in the medicine den. Snowpaw was sat in front of many different types of herbs and were muttering them under her breath. Silverpaw mewed a greeting to her sister and she turned her attention to Silverpaw.

"How was your first day?" Silverpaw asked.

"It was pretty good," Snowpaw replied. "Leaffeather took me on a tour of the territory too, but she showed me all the spots for herb collecting. She also taught me a few herbs! It's amazing how many herbs there are, and all the different ways to help your clanmates." Snowpaw looked at Silverpaw with excitement, and Silverpaw knew Snowpaw wouldn't regret being a medicine cat. Mewing her goodbyes, she retreated to the apprentices den.

She curled up into her nest and closed her eyes. She could hear and smell Crystalpaw curl up into a nest next to Silverpaw and Volepaw took a spot next to both Crystalpaw and Silverpaw. Silverpaw's mind began to drift as she thought about how lucky all the other apprentices were to have their kin to celebrate with, and how her and Snowpaw's parents had died. She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out that all familiar feeling of loneliness before she got up, nosed her nest closer to Crystalpaw, the main cat who had always been her best friend and there for her, and curled up back in her nest, happy to feel Crystalpaw's soft silver fur against hers, and fell asleep.

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_**A/N: And that's the first chapter! I'm not really sure what counts as bad or not, so if it's bad, then tell me. I can handle it lol. **__**Also first legit chapter and already over 1500 words? Anyone proud of meh? No? okay...**_


	3. Chapter 2

Silverpaw blinked her eyes open and saw the familiar face of her mentor, Dewdrop. She jerked her head towards the clearing and padded out of the apprentice's den. Silverpaw sat up, yawning, and stretched her body out and shook her fur. She gave herself a quick groom before heading outside. Silverpaw looked up to see that the dawn patrol was still gathering and followed Dewdrop out of camp and to a small clearing just outside camp.

Dewdrop sat, waiting in the middle of the clearing. "Today, I will teach you the hunters crouch. Once we've practiced till sunhigh, we'll join Eagleshadow and Daisypaw on a border patrol and continue teaching you what to do on a border patrol as well." Dewdrop explained. "I wanted to teach you one on one, which is why I've brought you out so early." Silverpaw nodded.

Dewdrop crouched down, keeping her tail low and her hind legs drawn close to her body. Silverpaw crouched down, copying her. Dewdrop sat up and examined her hunters crouch, nodding approvingly. "Good, you've almost got it. Tuck your hind legs a bit more. It'll add power to your jump." She nosed Silverpaw's back legs and Silverpaw tucked them in further. Dewdrop used a paw and gently pressed Silverpaw's tail a bit lower.

"Make sure your tail is low, but not low enough that when you're stalking, it drags on the floor and disturbs the brush and alerts your prey." Silverpaw nodded in understanding and pressed herself low.

"Good! Very good, Silverpaw. You're a quick learner." Dewdrop mewed, and Silverpaw sat up and purred.

"Let's work on stalking now," Dewdrop mewed, dropping low and dragging her body quietly and quickly towards a bundle of moss. She sat up and mewed, "You try now."

Silverpaw crouched down and slid herself across the floor. She reached the moss ball and sat up and looked at Dewdrop. "Good, you're doing excellently, Silverpaw," Dewdrop mewed. Silverpaw purred happily, proud of her quick learning and skills she learned.

Dewdrop then began to explain the different types of stalking for different types of prey, such as placing her paws down softly when stalking mice, and keeping extra quiet when hunting a rabbit. Dewdrop also taught Silverpaw how to stay downwind of her prey, so they wouldn't smell her coming. They then started practicing pouncing and judging a good distance to stalk to before pouncing.

By the time Silverpaw had practiced her stalking wonderfully and her pouncing was great, it was almost sunhigh and they began heading back to camp. Upon arrival, the duo saw Eagleshadow and Daisypaw as well as Volepaw. "Where's Icepelt?" Dewdrop asked Volepaw.

"He went on a hunting patrol and decided to have me join this border patrol to get some experience and learn." Volepaw explained.

Dewdrop mewed an "okay" before turning to the other apprentices. "Have any of you eaten yet?" Volepaw and Silverpaw shook their heads while Daisypaw nodded.

"Alright, go get something to eat quickly, you two. We'll leave as soon as you're finished." Dewdrop mewed before sitting down and grooming herself.

Silverpaw padded over to the fresh-kill pile and looked around. Volepaw padded up beside her and picked out a juicy rabbit and turned to Silverpaw. "Would you like to share this with me?" Volepaw asked, his voice muffled by the rabbit fur. He sneezed as the soft rabbit fur tickled his nose and Silverpaw let out a purr of amusement. She nodded and the two padded to the edge of camp and began to eat.

Daisypaw looked over at the two sharing a rabbit and saw that Volepaw was sitting a bit closer than normal to Silverpaw. She felt a prickle of annoyance and turned around and licked her paw to groom her ears.

After they finished eating, Volepaw and Silverpaw joined the patrol and followed Dewdrop and Eagleshadow out of camp. They were approaching the Darkclan border when Eagleshadow stopped abruptly, shortly followed by Dewdrop. Daisypaw caught up to the two warriors and saw that their noses were twitching. Silverpaw took a good sniff and recognized Darkclan scent was well into their territory, accompanied by rabbit bones and tufts of fur everywhere.

"Darkclan," Dewdrop hissed. "They've been here and stolen our prey!" Eagleshadow let out a low growl and Volepaw stiffened.  
"We better report this to Mountainstar, he'll want to hear about this," Eagleshadow growled. The patrol began to head back to camp. Silverpaw led up the rear when all of a sudden she heard a rustling in the trees. Her gaze darted up the tree and saw a squirrel gnawing at an acorn with its back to Silverpaw. Quickly, she leaped at the tree, digging her claws in. Her legs began to tremble in fear, as this was her first time climbing a tree and SIlverpaw had no interest in falling. She quickly shook away the fear and thought to herself, _As long as my claws are in and I don't look down, I should be fine._ She began to leap higher and higher, from branch to branch until she was just behind the squirrel. The squirrel continued to chew at the nut, completely oblivious to its incoming death. Silverpaw breathed in nervously, before shooting off at the squirrel, pouncing at it and grabbing the squirrel's neck in her teeth. She barely managed to land on a branch before she bit down on the squirrel's neck and killed it. The squirrel let out a loud squeak of pain before it went still.

Silverpaw sat up, purring proudly. Dewdrop burst through the bushes, quickly followed by Volepaw and Eagleshadow. "What's going on?" Dewdrop mewed urgently and watched as Silverpaw gracefully leaped down the tree, the squirrel dangling from her mouth. Dewdrop watched with shock and pride before breaking into a purr.

"Did you catch that yourself?" Dewdrop asked. Silverpaw placed the squirrel on the ground at her feet and nodded.

"I even had to climb a tree to catch it," Silverpaw boasted. Volepaw purred happily and gave Silverpaw a lick on the cheek.

"Great job, Silverpaw!" Eagleshadow praised.

"Yes, I haven't heard of an apprentice catching a piece prey on her first patrol and her first try, and climbing a tree when she hasn't even been trained how yet! Congratulations, Silverpaw." Dewdrop mewed. "I have a strong feeling you'll turn out to be an asset to Mountainclan when you become a warrior." Silverpaw purred happily and Volepaw purred.

The only one who wasn't praising Silverpaw was Daisypaw. Instead of looking at Silverpaw with pride, she gave Silverpaw a look of resentment. Daisypaw glared at Silverpaw hatefully and hissed. Dewdrop noticed the hostility immediately and turned on Daisypaw.

"Daisypaw, what are you doing? It's very un-Mountainclan-like to not praise a clanmate for their accomplishments." Dewdrop mewed angrily and looked at Daisypaw expectantly.

"You're not my mentor, you can't tell me what to do!" Daisypaw hissed.

"But I am," Eagleshadow stepped in, glaring at Daisypaw. "Dewdrop may not be your mentor, but she is still a loyal and valuable warrior, therefore higher in authority than you. Show some respect!"

Daisypaw glared at the warriors murderously. "Yeah, good job, Silverpaw, I guess…" Daisypaw muttered bitterly. It was very obvious she didn't mean it, but the mentors decided not to press her further and began to walk back to camp, gesturing for the apprentices to follow.

By the time Volepaw and Silverpaw entered camp, Eagleshadow and Dewdrop already disappeared in Mountainstar's den, reporting Darkclan. Silverpaw walked towards the fresh-kill pile with her head held high and placed the squirrel at the top of the fresh-kill pile and walked away.

Crystalpaw ran towards Silverpaw excitedly. "Did _you_ catch that squirrel?" She asked. Silverpaw nodded and began to tell the story of how she caught it. Mudpaw and Lilypaw joined Crystalpaw in hearing the story, along with Snowpaw who had heard from Volepaw about what happened. When she finished, the other apprentices stared in awe and congratulated her. The apprentices walked to the middle of camp and heard Mountainstar call a Clan meeting.

"Dewdrop and Eagleshadow reported something very intriguing to me." His gaze swept over the two warriors and gestured for them to explain.

Dewdrop jumped up halfway up the Tall rock. "As our patrol neared the border," Dewdrop explained. "Eagleshadow and I discovered rabbit bones and rabbit fur everywhere, while the area stank of Darkclan scent. The remains were well away from the Darkclan border, so it's impossible that this was an accident."

"Nonetheless, they have invaded our territory one too many times in the past moon!" Dewdrop finished, growling. Mountainstar thanked Dewdrop before continuing.

"That's right, Darkclan scent has been discovered multiple times already in the past moon, so Snoweybramble and I think it's time we teach Darkclan a lesson." Mountainstar announced. "Tonight at dusk, we will travel to Darkclan's territory and attack their dusk border patrol. I'm sure that will send the appropriate message to Darkclan that we won't tolerate constant prey theft and border invasions." The clan burst into cheers of approval and Mountainstar nodded approvingly before raising his tail for silence. The clan quieted down before he continued.  
"Snoweybramble will list off the names of the cats who will go," Mountainstar mewed, before jumping off the Tall rock and Snoweybramble leaping on.

"Frostwind, Barknose, Emberclaw, Sunfeather, Antroot, Petalflower, Waterfoot, Shellfur, Hawkfeather, Grayclaw, and Robinflight along with myself will go on the patrol." Snoweybramble mewed before dismissing the clan.

Silverpaw picked up a thrush before turning to the medicine den to find Snowpaw, and heard her talking to Leaffeather. "This will be your first battle," Leaffeather meowed. "We'll be there to treat any injuries then and there. It'll also be a good chance for you to use the skills you've learned so far and put them to good use." Snowpaw nodded before helping Leaffeather collect herbs to bring. Silverpaw entered before mewing a greeting.  
"Hi, Silverpaw," Snowpaw mewed, touching noses with her sister. "What can I do for you?"

"I came to bring you this thrush," Silverpaw dropped the prey on the ground. "I didn't see you eat at all after sunhigh, so I thought I'd bring you something."  
"Thanks! I'm starving," Snowpaw mewed, picking up the thrush and eating it. Silverpaw left, leaving Snowpaw to eat in peace.

Silverpaw looked up to see the sun begin to set. She picked out a vole for herself and a bird for Crystalpaw before bringing it to the stump where Crystalpaw was grooming her fur. She dropped the bird in front of Crystalpaw before eating her vole. The two exchanged stories of their first training session and saw that the patrol to invade Darkclan was gathering. Silverpaw watched longingly, hoping to be picked to go and see Darkclan territory, but she knew that they would never pick an apprentice who had only one training session, a hunting session too.

Silverpaw noticed that Volepaw and Lilypaw were watching longingly as well, before Mudpaw padded over and gathered the four apprentices together inside their den.

"You three all want to go with them, right?" Mudpaw asked. The apprentices nodded. "Good, because I have a plan…"

* * *

_**A/N: And that's chapter two! Does this count as a cliffhanger? Maybe, but I've written for quite a while and I needed to find a place to stop so enjoy!**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I hope you guys weren't really excited for my weird cliffie haha cuz I just wanted to stop writing and honestly Mudpaw's plan isn't that exciting. Just didn't want you guys to get your hopes up.**_

* * *

"What do you have in mind?" Crystalpaw asked.

"If we go to the battle and help them and do a good job," Mudpaw explained excitedly. "Then we'll be promoted to warriors!"

Daisypaw rolled her eyes. "And how exactly do you plan to be able to sneak out of camp without Mountainstar noticing us?"

"We can say we're all going out on a hunting patrol at the Iceclan border so they won't suspect anything. Then we run to the Darkclan border and watch the battle. Then we all go in and help and then we'll win and then we'll become warriors for our bravery in battle!" Mudpaw mewed.

Lilypaw shook her head. "I'm not doing this. It's a mouse-brained plan, flawed too." Mudpaw gave her a confused look.

"Listen," Lilypaw mewed. "First off, Mountainstar won't let a bunch of new apprentices go off and hunt all by themselves. He'll want a warrior or one of our mentors to accompany us." Realization began to hit Mudpaw. "Secondly, even if we were to help and win, they won't make us warriors. We're too young and we don't even know how to fight or recognize the difference between an invasion to our camp or a clan leader wishing to talk to Mountainstar." Lilypaw took a step back. "I'm not going, but I won't stop you from going. But you'll most likely get in trouble for putting yourselves in harms' way and interfering in a battle that could've killed you." Lilypaw left the den.

Daisypaw watched Lilypaw go. "Well, isn't she a downer?" Daisypaw purred. "I'll come with you Mudpaw." Mudpaw gave her a grateful look.

Silverpaw stood up. "I'm not going either. I think I'll stay with Lilypaw."

Daisypaw glared at her. "Fine, but when we become warriors, don't forget that we gave you a chance. Also when we're warriors, we'll be allowed to boss you around." She turned to Volepaw, who was watching Silverpaw leave the den. "Come on, Volepaw, let's go with Mudpaw."

Volepaw looked out the den, seeing Lilypaw and Silverpaw talking quietly. "I uh, I think I'm gonna-"  
"Come on, Volepaw! We gotta go." Daisypaw mewed impatiently, Mudpaw nodding in agreement. She sunk her teeth into his scruff and forcefully dragged him out of the den and towards Mountainstar.

Mudpaw padded up to the brown tabby and swung his tail to point at Daisypaw, Volepaw, and Crystalpaw. "Mountainstar, is it alright if we go to the Iceclan border and hunt? It's no use staying here at camp while the warriors are out fighting, and we thought we could go practice our hunting skills on actual prey and catch some home."

Mountainstar narrowed his eyes. "It wouldn't be smart of me to send out four untrained and new apprentices out to hunt by themselves at an enemy border, risking the chance to provoke Iceclan if and when you accidentally cross the border." He looked around camp to find a warrior to go with them, but Mudpaw cut him off.

"We'll be careful, Mountainstar, I promise. You've got to trust us. We'll be warriors soon and you have to trust your future warriors." Mudpaw mewed, his expression unwavering.

Mountainstar narrowed his eyes even more. "No," he growled. He nodded to Cloudrock. "Cloudrock will come with you four to make sure you behave and don't get yourselves into trouble." Cloudrock nodded.

Mudpaw surpressed a hiss of annoyance, but held his tongue and followed Cloudrock out of camp.

Cloudrock led the way, but Mudpaw fell back to Crystalpaw. "Crystalpaw," he mewed quietly. "You've got to distract Cloudrock while Daisypaw, Volepaw, and I go continue with the plan."

"Why do I have to?" Crystalpaw hissed.

"You're more likely to get in trouble in battle anyway. Besides, you're really good at distracting cats." Mudpaw half-heartedly replied.

"Those are the worst excuses ever! There's no way that you're leaving me out of this." Crystalpaw retorted.  
Cloudrock turned around. "Hurry up, you two." He noticed their position and narrowed his eyes. "What are you two talking about? Catch up, or you'll get left behind." He continued bounding along the trail and disappeared past the bushes, shortly followed by the apprentices.

The four apprentices began to hunt, and Mudpaw and Crystalpaw made eye contact. He gave her a look and Crystalpaw sighed and rolled her eyes. She walked over to Cloudrock, slightly limping and crouched down a bit, as if she were sick.

"Cloudrock," Crystalpaw mewed feebly. "I don't feel so good."

Cloudrock studied Crystalpaw carefully. He drew back. "What's wrong?"

"I have a really bad stomach ache," she mewed before letting out a small wail.

"Come," Cloudrock placed his tail on her shoulder, leading her back to camp. He turned to the other apprentices. "You three behave. I'm going to take Crystalpaw back to camp so she can get some herbs and feel better. You three better still be here when I get back." He yowled before taking Crystalpaw back to camp and disappearing from the forest.

Mudpaw pricked his ears, listening intently and waiting until he couldn't hear the pawsteps of Cloudrock and Crystalpaw. When all was quiet, he gathered the other apprentices and ran out of the forest, towards the border. The moon had risen by that point, and the apprentices struggled to find the border through the darkness before they heard yowls and hisses and followed the sounds. The squad of apprentices watched with wide eyes at the chaos of the battlefield. They could barely see Frostwind and Barknose fighting two Darkclan warriors. They heard Emberclaw let out hisses of fury as she was double teamed by two apprentices. They saw the other warriors fighting furiously and saw Antroot being attacked by both sides by two warriors. Daisypaw let out a gasp and launched herself towards her father and began to furiously claw her way through. She fought ferociously, clawing and biting at every chance she got until she reached Antroot and pounced on a Darkclan warrior and bit down on his tail, making him screech in pain and flee. Mudpaw and Volepaw ran in, joining the fight and helping Sunfeather and Petalflower. Daisypaw and Antroot fought off the final Darkclan warrior before he turned towards his daughter.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at camp!" Antroot mewed loudly over the sounds of battle.

"We came to save you!" Daisypaw replied.

"You shouldn't be here," Antroot yowled. "You'll get yourself killed! You haven't been trained how to fight."

Daisypaw leaped over Antroot's head, landing on a Darkclan warrior trying to sneak up on them and running her claws down her spine. She let out a yowl of pain and rolled on the ground, squashing Daisypaw. Antroot leaped in, biting down on the Darkclan warrior's shoulder and throwing her mercilessly at a tree. The warrior hit the tree hard and went unconscious.

Daisypaw turned back to her father. "It doesn't matter whether we've been trained or not. We have instinct as wild cats and that's all we need." She was cut off by a yowl from Darkstar as the Darkclan warriors retreated.

The Mountainclan warriors let out cheers of victory and watched as the Darkclan warriors ran off.  
Daisypaw looked around and saw Mudpaw and Volepaw, both with minor injuries but pride shining in their eyes. She let out a triumphant yowl and puffed her chest out proudly. The battle had been won, with the help of the apprentices. _We're sure to get our warrior names now! _She smirked inwardly at the expression on Silverpaw's face at her future warrior ceremony, how she would become a warrior and Silverpaw still an apprentice because she was too cowardly to help. Daisypaw padded back to Mudpaw and Volepaw and purred happily, patiently waiting to head back to camp and become warriors.

* * *

_**A/N: And that's chapter 3. Just wanna clarify that the summary isn't flawed. They've been living there for ages. The leaders' names don't necessarily mean that the clans are new. Also I just realized you guys might've thought that "Cloudrock, I don't feel so good" was a reference to Marvel and it wasn't xD I don't watch Marvel. Hate me if you want, but I don't really care.**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Cloudrock's P.O.V**_

Cloudrock gently guided Crystalpaw on the path back to camp, who was now hunched over and limping from her "stomach ache". They reached the entrance and pushed through the tunnel. Cloudrock opened his mouth, searching for Leaffeather's scent, but he couldn't find it.

"Leaffeather has gone to the battle," Cloudrock mewed.

"What'll I do?" Crystalpaw wailed pitifully. "I can't stand this much longer!"

"Don't worry," Cloudrock reassured her. "Grassstream trained as a medicine cat when she was an apprentice, but quit. She can help you." He gestured for her to wait at the medicine clearing and walked into the warriors den. Grassstream sat in her nest, dozing off.

Cloudrock padded in front of her and mewed a greeting. "Hello, Grassstream," Cloudrock mewed. "Leaffeather and Snowpaw are both out, and Crystalpaw has a stomach ache. Would you mind helping her out?"

"Of course," Grassstream replied, rising to her paws and exiting the warriors den with Cloudrock following her. She trotted to the medicine den and disappeared inside before reemerging with a few berries.

"These are juniper berries," she mewed, setting down the herbs. "Eat them, and your bellyache will feel better soon. You probably shouldn't go out for the rest of the day, so go back to the apprentice's den and rest." Crystalpaw looked at the berries reluctantly, before eating them up, silently praying that they won't do any harm to a healthy cat.

Crystalpaw sat up, licking her lips before mewing a goodbye and retreating to the medicine den. Cloudrock watched her go, before leaving and returning to the other apprentices. He retraced his steps and pushed through the bushes and emerged to where the apprentices were meant to be. They weren't at the clearing, but Cloudrock assumed they had split off and hunted.

Cloudrock began to sniff around, trying to catch a fresh scent, but all he found was the stale scent of Mudpaw, Volepaw, and Daisypaw. He began to panic, worrying that the apprentices and gone off on their own and were in trouble, or had gotten kidnapped by Iceclan. Cloudrock broke into a run and suddenly picked up a whiff of fresh scent. He turned his head, sniffing hard and began to pick up a trail that led through the trees and toward the Darkclan border. He let out a growl before racing off, following the scent trail. As he began to near, he heard the yowls of battle, and pressed harder, breaking through the brush and appearing at the battlefield.

He saw his clanmates fighting Darkclan and saw a flash of cream and brown fur and saw Daisypaw leap over Antroot's head and land on a Darkclan warrior sneaking up behind Antroot. He was about to leap into battle when he heard Waterfoot cry out. He immediately turned his attention to his clanmate and leaped into the fray, knocking the Darkclan warrior off of Waterfoot's back while kicking the Darkclan apprentice out of the way. He wasted no time leaping at the warrior and biting down on his shoulder and flipping him onto his back. He began scoring his claws across his muzzle and ears before the warrior let out loud squeals of pain and managed to wriggle away and follow the apprentice back to their territory.

Waterfoot opened her mouth to speak before Cloudrock cut her off, "There isn't time to explain, let's go!" He raced off back into the battle and Waterfoot followed behind.

It didn't take long for Darkstar to let out a yowl of retreat and race off with his clanmates. Cloudrock stopped, panting and looked to see the three apprentices standing proudly. As proud as he was, he was still very upset they had rushed off into danger's way put their lives at risk to prove some point. Cloudrock was too tired from running from place to place to scold the apprentices and decided to withhold a lecture until later.

* * *

Daisypaw, Volepaw, and Mudpaw instantly began to tell each other about what happened at the battle where they were. Daisypaw didn't waste an opportunity to start boasting how she jumped over Antroot's head and soared over five enemy warriors before landing on one and immediately defeating him. Mudpaw rolled his eyes and noticed a shadow over him. He could see the nervous looks on Daisypaw and Volepaw's faces and slowly turned around. He came face to face with Snoweybramble, who was looming over them, his piercing eyes staring into theirs. Mudpaw nervously gulped before stepping backwards.

"I would scold you insolent apprentices about what you did," Snoweybramble mewed icily. "But it would just waste my breath and everyone is already exhausted from the battle and your punishment is up to Mountainstar." He flicked his tail. "Let's go," he mewed to the clan and bounded off.

The apprentices followed the warriors silently and reached camp. Mudpaw was slightly ashamed and a little embarrassed while Daisypaw was still insistent on being proud. Volepaw just walked calmly, but he could see anger blazing in his eyes. They appeared in the middle of camp to see they were the last ones and saw Mountainstar watching them with his eyes narrowed. Silverpaw and Lilypaw watched with curiosity and Snowpaw gave them a look of sympathy. Crystalpaw popped her head out of the apprentice's den and gave them a look that said, "_What happened?"_

Mountainstar slowly walked towards the apprentices before stopping and dismissing the clan. He bent over and murmured, "You will see me in my den once Leaffeather or Snowpaw has checked you over for injuries. I don't want anything distracting you from our talk." He padded across the camp and entered his den.

Lilypaw rushed over with Silverpaw. "What happened out there?" She mewed worrily.

Before Volepaw could speak, Daisypaw stepped in and stuffed her tail in his mouth to keep him from speaking. "Everything's fine. We're just going to have a chat with Mountainstar." She eyed Silverpaw smugly. "He's probably going to speak with us about our upcoming warrior ceremony, considering how well we did in the battle." Silverpaw narrowed her eyes while Snowpaw, who had overheard, rolled her eyes. Mudpaw looked at Daisypaw, annoyed. Daisypaw shot him a glare that told him to shut up and Mudpaw glared right back, but held his tongue.

Lilypaw looked confused, but said nothing as Snowpaw basically dragged them away to check them for injuries. A few minor scratches and dock leaves to solve their problems and Leaffeather sent them off on their talk with Mountainstar.

Volepaw led the three, looking nervous before Mountainstar mewed for them to come in. They all squeezed inside, considering that Mountainstar was inside, as well as the three apprentices, Cloudrock, and Crystalpaw. Cloudrock had a mixed look of disappointment, anger, and a small hint of pride. Daisypaw decided to focus on the pride part.

"Let's review," Mountainstar began. "First, you forced your clanmate to distract Cloudrock, which shows disrespect towards your denmate's feelings and wishes." He flicked his tail at Crystalpaw, who was now glaring angrily at Mudpaw. "You also disobeyed orders from not only Cloudrock, but also me." Mountainstar stood up and began to hiss. "Cloudrock explicitly told you to stay, but instead you went off on your own to go fight in a battle that you were completely unprepared for. I thought Snoweybramble and I were very thorough on who was going and who was not, but apparently I wasn't clear enough." He reached down until his nose was almost touching theirs. "You three were not meant to be at the battle, no matter what! You've been apprentices for all of two days and now all of a sudden you think you're well trained enough to go fight in a battle against enemy warriors who've had as many moons of training, if not more, than you've been alive." Volepaw dropped his head and looked at his feet while Mudpaw averted his gaze. Daisypaw looked into Mountainstar's eyes defiantly but said nothing.

He drew back, taking deep breaths and calming himself. "You disobeyed orders and put yourselves at risk. I will allow your mentors to decide on your punishment. You may leave now." Mountainstar sat back in his nest.

The apprentices shuffled out of Mountainstar's den and saw their mentors waiting for them in the middle of camp. Cloudrock brough Mudpaw away from the other apprentices.

"I'm disappointed in what you've done, but nonetheless, you need to rest. Your punishment starts tomorrow and will last until I say so." Mudpaw looked up and saw Cloudrock's gaze was completely neutral, which surprised him. He nodded before walking back to his den and lay down beside Crystalpaw and curled up in his nest. Crystalpaw pressed her fur confortingly against his and Mudpaw drifted off and fell asleep.

* * *

Volepaw walked towards Icepelt. He hung his head and stopped in front of him. "I know you're disappointed," Volepaw mewed. "But in all honesty, I wanted to stay out. Daisypaw forced me to go and I wish I didn't. I knew it wasn't a good idea."

Icepelt listened carefully. "You should go rest," he meowed. "It's late, and you're probably exhausted. I will think about your punishment and let you know what I decide on."

"Thank you," Volepaw murmured. He looked up to see Icepelt walking away and quickly padded to the apprentices den. He saw Mudpaw and Crystalpaw were already in their nests, as well as Silverpaw. He curled up in his nest next to Silverpaw, pressing his flank against her, and within moments, he fell asleep.

* * *

Daisypaw strode over to Eagleshadow. There was no sign of remorse in her eyes, which angered Eagleshadow even more. Daisypaw stopped in front of Eagleshadow and saw anger flaring in his gaze. She barely managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes and waited to hear what he had to say.

"I'm very upset with you, Daisypaw," Eagleshadow growled. "And the fact that you think it still was a good idea disappoints me further. I'm sure I can find a fitting punishment for you to fix your attitude." He dismissed her and she hissed angrily and stalked away back to her nest. When she neared the den, she saw Volepaw enter the apprentice's den. Daisypaw walked in and felt anger rise up in her chest when she saw Volepaw pressing his flank against Silverpaw's. She marched to her nest and almost squashed Volepaw, who let out a grunt of annoyance but said nothing. Daisypaw curled up and forced herself to sleep.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry this took so long to update. I don't really have a reason, I just kinda kept stressing about starting high school next year so yay that's fun ^-^ Did this chapter suck? I never know what counts as bad or not when authors ask if it's bad so tell me what you think.**_


	6. Chapter 5

Volepaw blinked open his eyes. He stepped outside and saw Mudpaw speaking with Cloudrock. He padded over to Icepelt and sat down, awaiting to hear about his punishment.

"I've given your punishment some thought," Icepelt began. "And I've decided to go easy on you because you were dragged away against your will. Your punishment is simple: You will hunt for the clan every day and cannot take any prey at the end of the day unless me, Snoweybramble, or Mountainstar says so. The only way you can take prey for yourself without our permission is if you've caught three to five pieces of prey for the clan. Your punishment will start when I think you're skilled enough to hunt on your own, but for now, you must ask permission from me." Volepaw looked a bit surprised, but nodded and followed Icepelt out of camp.

They met at the training clearing along with Silverpaw and Dewdrop. Volepaw began practicing his hunter's crouch that he learned yesterday, as well as his pounce while Silverpaw and Dewdrop practiced in the forest. Mudpaw appeared through the bushes with Cloudrock before he too began to practice his hunting moves.

* * *

_**Silverpaw's P.O.V**_

Silverpaw walked in the forest and practiced her pouncing. After catching that squirrel yesterday, she seemed more confident. After practicing for a bit, Dewdrop spoke up.

"I think that's enough," Silverpaw sat up and gave her a confused look. "I think you're ready to practice on real prey. Besides, it'll give you a chance to work on scenting your prey, tracking, and working with the wind." She bounded off into the forest with Silverpaw at her heels.

Dewdrop began to slow before she stopped completely, her mouth open to look for scents. She angled her ears at a bush and Silverpaw immediately noticed a vole scuffling around. Dewdrop mouthed "_watch" _to Silverpaw and crouched down.

Silverpaw watched intently as Dewdrop stalked forward at the vole. Making sure she avoided the large stick on the ground, and staying upwind of her prey. She drew near, before exploding forward, pouncing on the vole and killing it so quickly Silverpaw didn't see. The vole stood no chance and never let out a squeak.

Dewdrop sat up and dropped her prey and burying it. "We'll pick it up on the way back." Silverpaw nodded. "Now you try. Find yourself a prey and catch it."

Silverpaw walked away after she spoke and kept a look out for scents. It took a while, but she managed to find a bird pecking at the ground. Silverpaw crouched down, nerves rushing through her as she creeped forward. Silverpaw continued to draw near before she took a step and, all of a sudden, looked down. She saw she was about to step on a small twig, and tried to avoid it, but she couldn't react fast enough as she was in the middle of taking a step. Her foot came down and the twig let out a small snapping noise and the bird sat up and looked around. Silverpaw froze as the birds' eyes landed on her, and the bird let out a squawk of terror and began to fly up. Suddenly, Dewdrop raced out from the bushes and leaped up into the air and used her paw to knock the bird out of the sky and onto the floor. She killed it in one bite to the spine.

Silverpaw drooped her head with disappointment and annoyance. Dewdrop padded over and dropped the bird. "It's okay, Silverpaw," she mewed. "This is your first real hunt, and it's okay that you made a mistake. You're still a new apprentice and you're learning. At least I got it." Silverpaw nodded, still mildly upset and continued looking for more prey.

The sun had risen and fallen halfway when the two decided to head back to camp. Silverpaw strode into camp proudly. In her jaws was a vole and a mouse that she had managed to catch while Dewdrop carried the bird and a vole. Daisypaw exited the nursery and saw Silverpaw carrying her prey, which caused her to scowl and hiss. Silverpaw placed her prey on the fresh-kill pile and Mountainstar looked at her proudly.

Dewdrop dropped her prey before turning to Silverpaw. "You can pick a piece of prey from the fresh-kill pile. Just be ready to leave at dusk. We'll be joining Crystalpaw, Fogfur, and Grassstream to patrol the Darkclan border." Silverpaw nodded.

"Where is Crystalpaw anyway?" Silverpaw mewed.

"She's confined to camp because she had a bellyache yesterday. She'll be back in training tomorrow but she said she feels well enough to join us now." Silverpaw seemed a bit confused, but nodded and took the bird she failed to catch and brought it to the edge of the camp.

Crystalpaw emerged from the apprentices den and picked out the vole Silverpaw caught and joined her. "How was training?" Crystalpaw mewed, settling down next to Silverpaw.

"It was good," Silverpaw mewed. "I practiced some hunting techniques with Dewdrop and then she had us go practice on real prey."

"That sounds cool!" Crystalpaw mewed through mouthfuls of fur. "I wish I could've been with you, but I have a stomach ache. I'm feeling a lot better though."

"Yea, that's good," Silverpaw plucked out some of the feathers and set them aside. "Speaking of which, how come this bellyache suddenly sprung on you?" Silverpaw turned and stared into Crystalpaw's eyes and Crystalpaw averted her gaze.

"Oh uh," Crystalpaw shuffled her paws. "I actually faked it to cover Mudpaw and Daisypaw. Volepaw too, but I think he didn't want to be there."  
Silverpaw gave her an incredulous look. "Why would you do that?" she mewed.

"Mudpaw made me," Crystalpaw sighed. "And besides, it's not like I got in trouble. Right now, the hostility is focusing on Daisypaw and Mudpaw." Crystalpaw shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm continuing my training tomorrow anyway." She began to eat her vole.

Silverpaw prodded her gently with her nose. "You know, I caught that vole," she purred.

Crystalpaw looked at her. "Really?" she gasped.

Silverpaw held her head high. "Yup," she mewed.

Crystalpaw purred happily and took another bite. She chewed slowly, pretending to really taste it and give it some thought. "Well, it tastes very juicy and delicious," she purred.

Silverpaw purred before continuing to eat her bird. When she finished, she picked up the feathers she plucked out and carried them to the nursery. She walked into the nursery and was immediately tackled by a trio of kits.

She purred, amused, before letting out a wail. "Oh no!" she purred. "You've got me!" The kits squealed happily before Rosekit sat up on Silverpaw.

"Did we _really _get you?" she squeaked.

"Of course you did," Silverpaw purred. "You'll turn out to be fine warriors." Rosekit puffed out her chest before joining her littermates.

Silverpaw padded over to Waterfall and dropped the feathers. "These are for you and the kits," Silverpaw mewed.  
Waterfall stretched out her neck and picked up the feathers in her jaws. "Thank you, Silverpaw," she purred, placing the feathers in her nest. "You gave me just enough to add to my nest, as well as one for the kits to play with. I'm sure they'll enjoy them." Silverpaw mewed a goodbye before exiting the nursery. By then, Volepaw had returned from camp and began eating.  
Silverpaw sat down next to him. "How was training?" she asked.

"It was alright," Volepaw replied. "Mudpaw and I practiced hunting all day."

"Speaking of," Silverpaw mewed. "Did your mentors decide on a punishment yet?"

Volepaw nodded, his mouth full of fur. "Icepelt went easy on me and I just have to hunt for the clan before I can eat. Mudpaw didn't get off so easy though, since he was the one who came up with the idea. He has to go on every dawn patrol every day until Cloudrock says so. He also has to hunt a lot more than normal and has a quota of prey he needs to catch every day or he isn't aloud to eat."

Silverpaw nodded slowly. "That's rough, especially since he's a new apprentice. He kind of deserves it though, being so naive." Volepaw purred in agreement and continued to eat his prey.

* * *

_**Daisypaw's P.O.V (In the morning because I can)**_

Daisypaw awoke, blinking. She turned and noticed everyone had gone and she was the only one left. She left the apprentices den and saw Eagleshadow waiting impatiently. She padded over to him and before Eagleshadow could speak, she spoke. "So," she mewed casually. "When are we going to get our warrior names?" Eagleshadow sighed loudly. "You're not."

"Why not?" she hissed. "We fought in a battle and proved our bravery and skill. When even saved lives and won!"

Eagleshadow glared at her. "You're far too young to receive your warrior names. You're just too inexperienced." Daisypaw hissed with fury but Eagleshadow silenced her with a harsh glare.

"On a different note," Eagleshadow continued. "You're late."

Daisypaw gave him a look. "You never said when to wake up, so I'm not late." Daisypaw protested.

"All the other apprentices already left quite a while ago and they all woke up closer to dawn than you. You're late compared to them." Eagleshadow hissed. Daisypaw grumbled a bit but said nothing. Eagleshadow narrowed his eyes and continued.

"I've decided your punishment. For today, you're confined to the camp and you're required to take care of the elders. Clear their bedding and get rid of their ticks and fleas. Bring them prey if needed. If they don't need anything, then help out with the medicine cats and take care of the queens and kits as well. You'll be confined to the camp every other day. You cannot disobey any orders you're given." Daisypaw gaped at Eagleshadow and opened her mouth to speak but Eagleshadow ignored her and continued.

"This will teach you discipline as well as respect. You're dismissed. I've already notified the elders of your punishment so there's no use trying to lie." Before Daisypaw could reply, Eagleshadow padded away and joined Petalflower and Snoweybramble and left on patrol. Daisypaw glared at Eagleshadow and growled. Grumbling angrily, she stalked to the elders den and walked in. She couldn't wait until they became warriors and Eagleshadow was old and relying on _them _for prey and then she'd show him who's boss.


	7. Chapter 6

_Magical time skip (two weeks)_

_**Snowpaw's P.O.V**_

A few weeks had passed and Snowpaw was proud to say that she was a quick learner. She had managed to memorize the basic herbs within two weeks and was happily moving along to more advanced and complicated herbs and poultices. Warriors had started to come to her with their health problems and Snowpaw had to get over the nerves that overcame her when she had to tell senior warriors what to do and what not to do.

Snowpaw stared with concentration at the herb stores. After a few heartbeats of thinking, she confidently pulled out a few tansy plants. She set them down in front of Nightfoot.

"Eat them up and if the cough persists, come back tomorrow for more," Snowpaw instructed. "It should go away by tomorrow evening."

Nightfoot bent over and lapped up the tansy. He swallowed and gave Snowpaw a grateful glance. "Thanks, Snowpaw," Nightfoot mewed. "You're turning out to be a great medicine cat!" Snowpaw purred and thanked Nightfoot as he left.

She began to sort through the herbs when Leaffeather walked in the medicine den with a large bundle of herbs in her jaws. She dropped them on the ground and began to sort through them. Snowpaw took half of her bundle and sorted through them as well.

"You know," Leaffeather meowed. "Tomorrow night is a half moon."

Snowpaw stopped for a heartbeat, processing what she just said. "Wait," Snowpaw mewed slowly, confused. "How come tomorrow night's half moon will be my first one to attend, but I've been your apprentice for two weeks now?"

"That's because you were apprenticed right after a half moon," Leaffeather explained. "So you missed that one and you had to wait until another one."

Snowpaw nodded in understanding. "Alright," she mewed before her tone became more excited. "Are you going to introduce me to Starclan then?"

Leaffeather purred. "That's right," she mewed. "You'll get to meet your warrior ancestors." Snowpaw purred happily. "You'll also get to meet the other medicine cats."

Snowpaw pricked her ears in interest. "Who are the other medicine cats?" she asked.

"You'll know when you get there," Leaffeather replied firmly.

"Okay," Snowpaw mumbled. She knew there was no arguing with Leaffeather. If Leaffeather told you to jump, then you jump.

"Now," Leaffeather's mewed. "What would you do if a cat had the hiccups?"

_Another magical time skip (next day)_

Snowpaw finished off treating Emberclaw's torn claw. She looked up to see the sun begin to set over the horizon. Suddenly, she remembered that tonight was a half moon, and she was about to go to the Moonrock to meet Starclan and the other medicine cats. Leaffeather prodded her out of her thoughts.

"It's time to go," she mewed. Snowpaw nodded nervously and walked outside the medicine den.

Leaffeather followed her outside before mewing "I'm going to tell Mountainstar we're off." before bounding towards his den. Snowpaw decided to take the time to tell Silverpaw as well.

Snowpaw walked over to the edge of the camp where Silverpaw had just finished eating and was now grooming herself.

"Hi Snowpaw," Silverpaw greeted her sister.

"Hi Silverpaw," Snowpaw replied. "I'm off to go see the Moonrock."

"Have fun!" Silverpaw mewed. "See if you can tell me about it later." Snowpaw nodded before hearing Leaffeather call her from across the camp and trotted away.

The Moonrock was in a small cave in the mountains called the Mooncave, so small that if a loner or a rogue were to pass by, they most likely wouldn't have seen it. Since the Mooncave was just behind Mountainclan territory, it didn't take long for Leaffeather and Snowpaw to make it there.

Leaffeather walked along a rocky path before stopping in front of this strangely flat stone with vines growing in front. "This is it," Leaffeather mewed. Snowpaw stepped forward and looked closely and realized there was a cave behind the large tangle of vines. Before she could say anything, Snowpaw heard pawsteps behind her and turned around to see three cats: a silver she-cat, a brown tabby she-cat, and a silver tabby with golden stripes. They each mewed a greeting to Leaffeather, who greeted the three medicine cats in return.

The pretty silver she-cat tipped her head and gave Snowpaw a curious look. "Who's this?" she asked.

Leaffeather padded to stand by Snowpaw. "This is Snowpaw. She's my new apprentice."

"Hello, Snowpaw. My name is Frostleaf." Frostleaf introduced herself. She flicked her tail at the brown tabby. "That's Petalleaf, and her apprentice is Streampaw." She pointed at the small silver tabby. Snowpaw shyly meowed a greeting at them.

"It's time to share tongues with Starclan. I also have to introduce Snowpaw to Starclan as well." Leaffeather interrupted. "Let's go."

The five medicine cats pushed through the vines and padded into the cave. Snowpaw was instantly hit with a wave of darkness and she turned around to barely be able to see the light coming through the thick mess of vines.

"Follow my scent inside," Leaffeather instructed before Snowpaw heard her pad deeper into the cave. Carefully, Snowpaw followed Leaffeather through a narrow tunnel before they broke out into a clearing that was dimly lit by a hole in the roof that let in some moonlight.

"Ready?" Snowpaw nodded. After waiting a few moments, Leaffeather began to speak.

"Snowpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of Starclan as a medicine cat?"

Snowpaw gulped before speaking. "It is."

"Then come forward." Leaffeather padded forward a few paces and Snowpaw followed suit.

"Warriors of Starclan, I present to you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her clan in accordance of your will."

Suddenly, a bright flash of moonlight hit the Moonrock and the Moonrock lit up, causing Snowpaw to blink.

"Lie down and touch your nose to the Moonrock, so you may share dreams with Starclan." Leaffeather mewed before pressing her nose to the stone and curling up in front of it. The other medicine cats did as well and Snowpaw touched the Moonrock, feeling the cold rock against her nose. She curled up next to Leaffeather and closed her eyes as sleep overcame her.

Snowpaw opened her eyes. She stood in the middle of a grassy clearing with trees surrounding the area. In front of her was a small pool of water. Snowpaw looked up to see the stars shining brightly in the sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Snowpaw jumped with surprise as a voice next to her spoke. She whirled around to see a beautiful silver tabby standing next to her, staring down into the pool's reflection.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" Snowpaw asked.

"Do not worry," she purred. "You are in Starclan. You're safe. As for who I am, my name is Twilight. I am one of your ancestors."

Snowpaw tipped her head. "Are you a Mountainclan warrior?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, but I was connected with Mountainclan. A Mountainclan cat told me about Starclan and when I died, I was allowed to come here so I may watch over him and his clan."

"Who?" Snowpaw pressed.

Twilight ignored her and continued. "Look,"

Snowpaw looked into the pool and saw a small clearing of land and a fallen log. It was as if she were a bird and was gazing upon the land from above. She watched as a brown tabby tom raced through the rain and reached a silver tabby. It didn't take long for Snowpaw to realize that it was Twilight. Snowpaw saw the brown tabby and Twilight speaking, along with a tortoiseshell she-cat, but Snowpaw couldn't hear a thing. After a while, she saw Twilight give birth to two small kits. The brown tabby looked so happy as he groomed Twilight, but the tortoiseshell looked sad. The brown tabby continued to speak, and looked at the tortoiseshell, then to Twilight, before he lifted his head up and opened his jaws as if he were yowling to the sky. She saw Twilight rest her head limply to the side on the ground as the two kits squirmed about. Snowpaw stretched her neck forward before jerking back with shock. The small silver kit was Silverpaw! That would mean the other kit was her! She gasped out loud before realizing that Twilight was her mother. She quickly turned around to where Twilight was sitting next to her only to come to the realization that she had disappeared. She returned her attention back to the pool and saw the tortoiseshell padding away with the two kits as the brown tabby brought Twilight out of the log to bury her. The pool faded back to her own reflection and she gazed at it, trying to make sense of what she saw.

Suddenly, a paw prodded her in the side and she jerked around and woke up and saw the amber eyes of Leaffeather. Snowpaw got up, shaking her pelt. "It's time to go," Leaffeather mewed before walking quickly back to the tunnel, following the other medicine cats. Snowpaw shuffled quickly, pushing through the mess of vines again and breaking outside into the dawn light. The medicine cats mewed quick goodbyes before leaving Snowpaw and Leaffeather. Leaffeather said nothing as she led the way back to camp and entered the camp.

Silverpaw came rushing over to her sister, touching noses with her. "How was it?" Silverpaw mewed.

Snowpaw opened her mouth to speak before Leaffeather called her over to the den. Apologizing, Snowpaw scurried to the medicine cat den. When she entered, Leaffeather turned and gave her a serious look.

"There's something else you need to know. Medicine cats are not to share their dreams from Starclan with the clan, except for the clan leader. You cannot tell anyone about your apprentice ceremony at the Moonrock. It is a sacred ceremony that is not to be shared with anyone." Leaffeather mewed, giving her a knowing look.  
Snowpaw dropped her head. She told Silverpaw everything, and now that she was a medicine cat, she couldn't anymore? Nodding, she walked back outside to see Silverpaw sitting expectantly.

As she approached, Silverpaw leaped to her feet. "Well?" she asked. "What happened at the Moonrock? How was the ceremony? Did you see our ancestors?"

Snowpaw waited for her to finish before speaking. "Leaffeather says I can't tell you what happened. I'm sorry," Snowpaw mewed, upset.

Silverpaw nodded. "Okay, I understand. It's fine." she mewed.

Snowpaw gave Silverpaw a grateful look before Silverpaw padded away to the apprentice's den. Snowpaw sat, thinking about her dream before she came to the conclusion that she'd have to disobey Leaffeather. Snowpaw raced over to Silverpaw and called out to her.

"Silverpaw, I have to tell you something," she mewed.

Silverpaw gave her a confused look. "I thought you're not allowed to tell others about your dreams."

"I'm not," Snowpaw admitted. "But my dream involved both of us, so I think it's important enough to tell you."

Silverpaw nodded and gestured her to speak, but Snowpaw's eyes darted to the sleeping form of Crystalpaw before walking outside. Snowpaw brought Silverpaw out of camp and behind the medicine den.

They sat down and Snowpaw shuffled her paws. "When I was at the Moonrock, I woke up in a clearing. There was a pool in front of me. That's when a cat appeared next to me. Her name's Twilight. She had me look into the pool. I saw some pretty interesting stuff."

"What'd you see?" Silverpaw pressed.

"It was pretty long, but I'll break it down." Snowpaw mewed. "I saw a brown tabby, Twilight, and a tortoiseshell. I could see them from above like I was flying, but I couldn't hear anything. Basically, Twilight had given birth inside a fallen log. She had two kits and the tortoiseshell and the tabby were talking and then all of a sudden the tabby just cried out and Twilight died."

Silverpaw's eyes widened. "That's not all," Snowpaw meowed cautiously. "This is the important part." Silverpaw nodded. "I looked closely at the kits and it was us."

Silverpaw's jaw dropped in shock. "So Twilight is our mother?" she asked, nearly shouting.

Snowpaw glared at her. "Keep it down!" she hissed quietly. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this, remember?" Silverpaw nodded.

"Who's the tortoiseshell and the tabby then?" Silverpaw asked, whispering.

"I didn't see. I'm sorry," Snowpaw mumbled.

Silverpaw stepped closer and pressed herself against her sister comfortingly. "It's okay. We'll figure this out together." Snowpaw nodded, closing her eyes and taking in her sister's scent. Snowpaw felt safe with her sister, as they both vowed to find their father.


	8. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I feel like the ending of the last chapter was bad so sorry about that. I'm not very good at writing endings so don't expect great conclusions lol**_

* * *

_Magical time skip_

Silverpaw stared intently at the plump rabbit scuffling around for food. She launched herself forward and hissed at it. The rabbit's eyes darted to her before racing off in the opposite direction with Silverpaw running at its heels. Suddenly, a flash of dark gray fur raced onto the path right as the rabbit flew by. Volepaw landed, face first, into the dirt, missing the rabbit by mere centimeters. He hissed in frustration but Silverpaw continued, pressing onwards until Crystalpaw dashed in front of the rabbit, causing it to skid to a halt before she snatched it up and killed it in one bite. Silverpaw trotted to a stop, panting heavily while Volepaw caught up with them.

"I can't believe I missed it!" Volepaw moaned.

"It's okay," Crystalpaw mewed, her voice muffled. "At least we got it."

"Easy for you to say," Volepaw replied tartly. "You got the rabbit _Silverpaw and I_ were hunting while you were supposed to be hunting elsewhere!"

Silverpaw purred with amusement. "Speaking of which," she turned to Crystalpaw. "How come you're here when you're supposed to be at the Iceclan border?"

Crystalpaw dropped the rabbit and pointed behind her with her tail. "The Iceclan border is a few fox-lengths that way." she mewed a-matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Silverpaw and Volepaw mewed simultaneously. Crystalpaw purred before picking up the rabbit and handing it to Silverpaw.

"It's your catch. I'm pretty sure that if you kept chasing it, you would've caught it anyway," Crystalpaw mewed before bounding away.

Silverpaw picked up the rabbit and brought it to the rest of their stash they buried of prey they caught that morning. Together, they had caught two birds, three mice, and a vole along with the rabbit. Silverpaw purred, happy with her and Volepaw's stash of prey.

A few moments later, Crystalpaw came bounding over with Mudpaw. The two both had their jaws filled with prey. Suddenly, Dewdrop and Icepelt appeared from the forest.

Dewdrop looked at their prey amount and purred. "You four all did great today. I think it's worth you all knowing that tomorrow night is a full moon, and I've decided to let you four go. I'll tell Mountainstar and Snoweybramble. I'm sure they won't stop you from going, especially after you all's hunt today." Dewdrop mewed proudly with Icepelt nodding in agreement beside her. The four apprentices purred happily. They picked up their prey and, with the help of Dewdrop and Icepelt, managed to carry their load back to camp.

As they entered, Silverpaw couldn't help but notice their clanmates gawking in awe. She placed her catches on the fresh-kill pile and picked out a piece: a nice and juicy mouse. She joined Crystalpaw at the edge of camp and saw Lilypaw emerge from the camp entrance along with Sunfeather and Robinflight. Lilypaw quickly picked out a piece of prey before hurrying to Volepaw and began to talk.

When she finished eating, Silverpaw looked up and saw the sun had gone past its peak and was beginning to set. She picked out a bird and a squirrel for Snowpaw and Leaffeather and brought it to the medicine den.

The strong scent of herbs hit Silverpaw as she approached. Inside, Snowpaw was mixing many different herbs together.

"Snowpaw!" Silverpaw called. "I've brought you some food for you and Leaffeather."

Snowpaw gave her sister a grateful look. "Thanks, I'll let Leaffeather know."

Silverpaw nodded. "You're coming to the gathering, right?"

"Of course," Snowpaw mewed. "It's going to be our first anyway."

"Right," Silverpaw purred. "I can't wait!"  
Snowpaw mewed in agreement before Silverpaw left the medicine den. Before she could even think about doing anything else, a sharp wail pierced the air.

"My kits are gone!"

Silverpaw turned her attention to Waterfall who was frantically searching every mouse-length of the nursery. "I can't find them!" she wailed.

Snoweybramble immediately jumped up. "Don't worry, Waterfall. We'll find them. I'll send out searching parties everywhere." He turned his head to the rest of the clan.

"Sunfeather! You lead one party with Mosseywhisker, Lilypaw, Grayclaw, Duststorm, Dewdrop, Silverpaw, and Petalflower river." Sunfeather nodded before the chosen cats all gathered around. "Antroot, you lead another with Icepelt, Volepaw, Daisypaw, Eagleshadow, Hawkfeather, and Frostwind to the Iceclan border. I'll lead the last patrol with Pinetail, Waterfoot, Snoweywhisker, Cloudrock, Mudpaw, Sandfur, Barknose, Fogfur, and Crystalpaw to the Darkclan border." All the cats went to their chosen groups and immediately set off.

Silverpaw raced behind Dewdrop as the patrol headed to the river that flowed from the top of the mountains and split down east to form a river and west to form a small stream.

It didn't take long for them to make it to the river and Sunfeather whirled around to the rest of the patrol. She made eye contact with Dewdrop. "Dewdrop, you take Silverpaw, Duststorm, and Petalflower and go that way." He pointed with his tail. "I'll take the rest of the patrol and head the other way. Meet back here if you can't find them by dusk." Sunfeather and his patrol raced off while Dewdrop flicked her tail and led the rest of the patrol the other way.

The patrol began to yowl their names, desperately trying to find them or pick up a scent. Silverpaw padded around, sniffing hard. Suddenly, she picked up the faintest scent of Rosekit, but the trail was fading quickly.

Wasting no time, she followed the scent trail as it led deeper and deeper into the forest. The sun was quickly setting as dusk approached, and the added darkness didn't help Silverpaw along the way. The scent was growing stronger, but it was also mixed with fear-scent.

The trail curved until it was heading for the Iceclan border. Silverpaw didn't stop, following the scent until she could see the Iceclan border a few fox-lengths from herself. The kit's scent was everywhere, at this point, and dusk was quickly approaching. She suddenly heard squeaks of terror from her right, but closer to the border as she dashed off in that direction. She skidded to a halt as she almost ran straight across the border and heard the kits squeal in fear as well as another unmistakably familiar scent.

Fox.

Dewdrop and taught her about foxes. Dewdrop had showed her their scent from some fox dung they found at the edge of their territory.

Through the dim sunlight, she saw the reddish brown fur and the pointy and small shape of a fox. It snarled at the kits ferociously, who were hiding in a thorn bush. Silverpaw let out a hiss to distract the fox from the kits, and the fox whirled around to face Silverpaw. She had never been so afraid in her life. The fox was almost twice her size and weight, and Silverpaw had no experience whatsoever in fighting. _But if I don't try, the kits might die! _Silverpaw thought. _Plus, I'd miss Rosekit ambushing me every time I go to the nursery._ She let out a defiant yowl that pierced the air. She launched herself at the fox, jumping up and landing on its back. She began to claw at its back, like she was running and sliced many tufts of fur out and blood welled at where her claws were. The fox screamed in pain and rolled onto its back so fast Silverpaw couldn't move, promptly squishing her underneath the fox's weight. She opened her mouth as the wind was knocked out of her as the fox jumped up and sank its teeth into her scruff, picking her up and flailing her around in its grasp. The fox threw her hard at a tree and she let out a yowl of pain. She staggered to her feet and saw the fox's malicious eyes gleaming hungrily. Silverpaw glared at the fox before leaping at it again. Faster than the fox could see, she sped around and around the fox, occasionally darting in to deal a couple of blows before retreating a few steps and running around again. Confused, the fox blindly swung its paw and it hit Silverpaw right in the chest, knocking her onto the ground. She yowled in pain as the fox sank its large teeth into her shoulder before it drew back and picked her up by her leg and swinging her around and throwing her against the ground. Silverpaw was running out of strength, and the fox knew it too. Using the remaining energy she had left, she climbed to her paws, leapt up and landed on the fox's back once again. She dug her claws into the fox to steady herself and keep herself from falling off and bit down on the fox's neck. The sour taste of the mangy fox's blood made Silverpaw almost gag, but she held on as the fox thrashed about. Silverpaw barely managed to hold on as it flailed about, desperately trying to throw Silverpaw off. In one final attempt, the fox threw its back against a tree, causing Silverpaw to lose her grip and fall to the ground. Hitting her head against a rock, she felt her vision began to blur as she began to lose consciousness. She heard noises in the distance as the fox growled lowly and stalked over to her. Silverpaw's world faded to black.

* * *

_**A/N: Cliffie? Cliffie? Oh yeah, I think so too. Hope you enjoyed :D **_


	9. Chapter 8

_**Unknown P.O.V**_

* * *

A pale gray tabby padded through the birch forest, a vole in his jaws. He padded closer to the border and heard strange noises that sort of sounded like battle. He dropped his vole and buried it. He padded cautiously towards the border to Mountainclan.

His jaw dropped as he saw a small silver apprentice fighting a fox twice her size. In the bushes a few tail-lengths back, were three kits, bundled together tightly and watching the apprentice fearfully. His eyes widened as the silver tabby, who was clinging on the fox's back, was heavily sandwiched between the fox and a tree as the fox threw itself at a tree. He saw her try to get to her paws as the fox neared her, but she fell and passed out.

He let out a yowl and launched himself towards the fox, not caring that he had crossed the border and hurtled himself at the fox. Unsheathing his claws, he slashed his claws across the fox's muzzle before diving underneath it and clawing its underbelly. The fox screamed in pain as he dove out and landed on its back. He saw scratch marks as well as a bite wound on its neck from the apprentice. He bit down on its neck and clawed the fox's flank many times until the fox ran. He leaped off the fox and hissed angrily as the fox whimpered and cowered in fear. He lashed his tail and snarled one last time before the fox ran off into the forest outside of clan territory.

Once he was sure the fox had gone for good, he turned his attention to the battered apprentice. Her small, wounded body made his heart break at the sight of such a young apprentice being ripped apart by a fox. He padded over to her and nudged her gently. Her eyes flitted open before she scrambled backwards in fear.

"Wh-who are you?" she squeaked.

"My name is Ice-bergfang," he mewed. "I'm an Iceclan warrior. I heard and saw you fighting the fox and then you blacked out, so I had to save you so you didn't die."

"Thank you," she mewed sincerely. "I'm Silverpaw. I was tracking down those kits when I found the fox. I had to fight it off, but I guess I wasn't strong enough." Silverpaw dropped her head before wincing in pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Silverpaw shook her head before showing him her injuries. Her leg was stuck out at a funny angle. _The fox most likely wrenched it when it threw her_, Ice-bergfang guessed. She also had a nasty bite on her shoulder as well as a wound on her head when she hit the rock. She whimpered in pain as he touched her chest with his paw. She had a scratch on her chest and it seemed that she broke her ribs from hitting the tree and being squished by a creature twice her size. Ice-bergfang gave her a sympathetic look and gave her a small lick to straighten out the fur on her scruff. Silverpaw closed her eyes as she lay there.

"Could you check on the kits for me?" she asked. He nodded and padded over to the thorn bush. The kits squeaked fearfully and bundled closer together.

"Don't worry," he mewed soothingly. "I won't hurt you, I'm just making sure you're okay." The kits relaxed a bit but were still wary of him.

Finally, one of the kits spoke up. A small gray she-kit. "Why do you smell so funny?" she mewed.

"I'm an Iceclan warrior," he explained carefully. "I heard Silverpaw being attacked so I ran here to help her."

"Thank you," she squeaked. "Thank you for saving us. We thought the fox was going to eat us."

"We wouldn't let that happen," he promised. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

_**Silverpaw's P.O.V**_

* * *

Silverpaw lay in front of a tree while Ice-bergfang checked on the kits. Suddenly, she heard pawsteps approaching and she stiffened. He noticed this, and before he could say anything, Antroot's patrol, along with Mountainstar, appeared. Ice-bergfang quickly took a few steps back and dipped his head politely at them.

"What happened here?" Mountainstar mewed worriedly.

"I'm okay," Silverpaw mewed quickly. To prove it, she attempted to get up, but let out a gasp of pain before slumping back down to the ground. Volepaw and Mountainstar rushed over to her side while Antroot, Hawkfeather, and Frostwind checked up on the kits. Before they could ask any questions, Mountainstar noticed Ice-bergfang off to the side. He padded slowly to him and narrowed his eyes.

"What is an _Iceclan _warrior doing on Mountainclan territory?" he growled, bristling. The other warriors bristled and Antroot stepped protectively in front of the kits. Volepaw let out a low and threatening growl. Silverpaw dragged herself in front of Ice-bergfang and looked at Mountainstar defiantly.

"You can't hurt him," she mewed. "He saved my life."

Mountainstar's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I was tracking the kits and there was a fox." Silverpaw began before Volepaw widened his eyes.

"You fought a fox on your own?" he gaped.

"Yes and no. I fought it, but I almost died and Ice-bergfang was patrolling the border and saved me from the fox," Silverpaw mewed quietly.

Mountainstar turned his gaze to Ice-bergfang, who had his head bowed. Mountainstar padded over to him. "Thank you, for saving her and the kits," Mountainstar mewed genuinely.

Ice-bergfang nodded. "You're welcome," he mewed. "I should probably head back to my territory."

"Are you sure?" Mountainstar asked. "If you're injured, it's easier for you to come back to our camp and get treatment."

Ice-bergfang shook his head. "I'm okay," he assured them. "I'll be on my way now." He turned around and padded to the border, crossing it. He turned around to face Silverpaw one more time before trotting back to his camp.

With the help of Volepaw, Antroot, Mountainstar, and Hawkfeather, Silverpaw limped back to camp while the other warriors carried the kits back. As she entered, Silverpaw noticed that all the search parties had come back to camp. Dewdrop and Snowpaw rushed over to Silverpaw.

"Silverpaw! What happened to you?" Snowpaw exclaimed.

Silverpaw groaned, having to tell the story again. "Long story short, I was looking for the kits and saw a fox attacking them and I fought it. An Iceclan warrior saved me and we came back here." she explained, exhausted.

Dewdrop helped her to the medicine den and Leaffeather gave her a thorough exam. "That bite you've got is probably going to get infected," Leaffeather noted. She turned to Snowpaw. "Can I leave you to take care of your sister, Snowpaw?"

Snowpaw gave her a worried look. "By myself? What if I do something wrong and I kill her?"

Leaffeather purred in amusement at her anxiety. "It'll be okay. I trust that you'll do fine. I need to check up on the kits so you can tell me what you did when I get back," she mewed before padding away.

Snowpaw sighed before sniffing Silverpaw all over. She padded into the store and brought out a bundle of herbs before taking some in her mouth and chewing them into a pulp. Silverpaw decided to tell her about what happened while Snowpaw treated her.

After a while, Snowpaw finally finished treating Silverpaw and Leaffeather padded in. "How is everything?" she asked.

"I used some marigold and horsetail for the bites and used some comfrey for her leg. I put dock on her scratches and gave her a poppy seed," Snowpaw reported.

Leaffeather purred. "You did excellently, Snowpaw. Don't doubt your skills. I'll need some of that dock for the kits. They got scratched in that thorn bush." Leaffeather took some dock leaves and brought it back to the nursery.

Silverpaw limped to the apprentices den and saw Crystalpaw inside. "Hi, Silverpaw," Crystalpaw mewed.

"Hi Crystalpaw," Silverpaw replied. She noticed some fresh pigeon feathers in her nest. "Thanks for the feathers."

"That wasn't me," she mewed, a knowing look in her eyes. "It was Volepaw. He also changed your bedding so that's fresh moss too."  
Silverpaw was too tired to reply so she sunk into her nest and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Silverpaw awoke the next day at sunhigh. She looked around and noticed all the apprentices had gone. She struggled to stand as her wounds from yesterday stung. She winced in pain and stumbled out the den just as Snowpaw padded over.

She quickly rushed to her sister's side. "No, Silverpaw!" she mewed worriedly. "You shouldn't be moving around so much. Your leg hasn't healed and your wounds are still pretty fresh." She guided her to the medicine den. "You should probably stay here for today."

Silverpaw groaned. "I'm supposed to stay here all day? I'll die of boredom!"

"Don't worry," she purred. "You can help me. Besides, you might learn a thing or two."

"I'm not a medicine cat," Silverpaw argued. "Why would I need to learn herbs?"

"Well," Snowpaw replied. "You never know when you might need the information. It wouldn't hurt to learn the basics in case of emergencies and there are no medicine cats around."

Silverpaw nodded. "I suppose you're right," she sighed.

Snowpaw let out a grunt of satisfaction before checking on Silverpaw's wounds. She carefully peeled off the herb poultices and sniffed her injuries carefully.

"Well, I think your injuries are becoming infected," she told her, wrinkling her nose at the stench. "It'll be okay though. I can fix it." She padded into the store and pulled out a few chervil leaves as well as some other herbs. She chewed the chervil leaves and dripped the juices onto her wound. Silverpaw let out a hiss of pain as the juice stung her wounds but stayed still as Snowpaw treated her wounds and explained the uses of all the herbs she was using.

"Done!" Snowpaw mewed happily as she sat back. "Your leg is healing nicely there so everything's fine."

"Great," Silverpaw mewed in a neutral voice. She plopped her head on her paws lazily and watched Snowpaw clean up her herbs. She inwardly groaned about how slow the day was and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted to from Volepaw, to Dewdrop, to Snowpaw's dream, before it settled on Ice-bergfang. She snorted. _Yea, right,_ Silverpaw thought to herself. _Like that's ever going to happen._ Silverpaw rolled around until she was comfortable before falling asleep.

* * *

_**A/N: There ya go! I can never tell when I write a cliffhanger and then I write what happens and I dunno whether I let you all down or not. Hopefully I don't. School's about to start so don't expect too many chapters from me as school can be a pain. Bye!**_


	10. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I made a few changes to the character descriptions in the first chapter. Check it out if you want. Just letting you guys know I thought some of the descriptions were really cringe worthy and didn't match what I would think it would be like at all. Anyway enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

Silverpaw awoke to a pair of blue eyes and white fur. Snowpaw stood over her, sniffing her injured leg carefully and examining the wrench.

"What time is it?" Silverpaw asked drowsily.

"The sun's going down right now. You've been sleeping for a long time and I thought it was about time I examine your wounds." Snowpaw explained.

Silverpaw groaned. "If my wounds don't kill me, then this extensive exposure to boredom might."

Snowpaw purred in amusement. "You can help me some more today. You also need to stretch that leg to make sure it's healing."

Silverpaw nodded. "Okay, I got it,"  
Dewdrop pushed her way into the medicine den. "How're you feeling, Silverpaw?" she asked.

"Better," Silverpaw mewed. "How long does it take before I can return to my duties?"

"That's up to Leaffeather and Snowpaw," Dewdrop replied. "Don't worry. I'll get you caught up once you're well enough."

Silverpaw sighed, "I wish I didn't have to stay cooped up here all day every day from dawn to dusk."

Dewdrop purred. "Don't worry. There's a gathering tomorrow night so you can go. I'm sure that'll make your life a bit better."  
Silverpaw's eyes brightened up. "Really? Oh, thank you so much!" she purred happily.

Dewdrop mewed a good-bye before leaving. Silverpaw got up and shook out her fur. It felt so great to finally stretch her legs without wincing from the pain, but the infection was still there, and it seemed to be seeping away at her strength. Ignoring this, she finally dragged herself outside the den. Instantly, everyone's eyes in the near vicinity turned to her.  
Crystalpaw ran over to her. "Silverpaw! How are you?"

Silverpaw gave her a confused look, "I'm fine, why are you so worried? You saw me yesterday."

Crystalpaw gave her a deadpan expression, "Well I mean, you're a hero. You single-handedly saved Antroot's kits from a fox! A _fox_! You're a half-trained apprentice and you fought off a fox."

"I didn't fight it on my own," Silverpaw corrected. "Ice-bergfang helped me."

Crystalpaw shook her head. "Mountainstar refuses to acknowledge the fact that an _Iceclan_ warrior helped you, especially since we're technically still hateful rivals."

"Oh," Silverpaw mewed, padding over to the fresh-kill pile, pawing at it. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not really, no," Crystalpaw replied, picking out a shrew and bringing it near the apprentice's den. Silverpaw plucked out a bird and joined her.

"The gathering's tomorrow," Silverpaw pointed out.  
Crystalpaw brightened up. "You're right!" she turned to Silverpaw. "You're going, right?"  
"Of course!" she replied. "Are you?"

"Mhm," she replied through a mouthful of feathers.

Silverpaw got up and returned to the medicine den. She then spent the rest of the day learning basic herbs and remedies. Silverpaw was surprised at how much she ended up learning. At the end of the day, she plopped back into her nest and closed her eyes, falling asleep immediately.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the late and short chapter. School started and life sucks and plus I'm not allowed to have my laptop during the week :/ Anyway hope you enjoyed!**_


	11. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Yea yea, I know it's been like half a year since I updated but I kinda just lost all my motivation to write and also my laptop straight up broke for four months. Well here ya go enjoy. Give thanks to the great corona virus for getting rid of school on my spring break and giving me three weeks to do nothing and getting bored in the first week.**_

* * *

Silverpaw bounced impatiently in the middle of the clearing. "Come on!" she whined. "When can we go to the gathering already?"

Dewdrop let out a sigh of exasperation, "For the fifth time already, we have to wait until everyone's ready, and _then _we can go."

Silverpaw rolled her eyes just as Mountainstar came out of his den. His eyes scanned the cats all gathered around the Tall Rock before letting out a calling yowl and leading everyone out of camp.

Dewdrop flicked her tail in front of Silverpaw's face, catching her attention. "When we get to the gathering, I recommend staying close to someone you know. Don't lose sight of one another; try to socialize, but know where the line is when you're talking about our clan." Silverpaw quickly nodded before racing through the trees. Dewdrop called out after her, "And don't get lost either!"

Distracted, Silverpaw continued running ahead before she almost blindly ran into a tree. As she tried to catch herself, she tripped on a root and was sent sprawling through the bushes, her fur getting snagged on the thorns and branches. When she regained her footing, she shook her pelt out before realizing she had no idea where she was. Sniffing the air, she could catch the scent of Mountainclan's border. She stiffened as she heard pawsteps. Too late, she realized as she heard the bushes rustle before a cat stepped out.

Iceberg-fang pushed through the bushes and found Silverpaw looking around aimlessly. "Silverpaw?" he mewed cautiously. She slowly turned around.

"Uhh h-hi Iceberg-fang!" she squeaked, slowly backing towards what she thought was the border.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, taking a few steps forward. "You know you're on Iceclan territory, right?"

She shook her head, eyes wide before she took another step back and tripped, doing a half-turn to try to catch herself before landing flat on her face. She stood up, her face flamed in embarrassment. She glanced towards Ice-bergfang to see him trying very hard not to purr in amusement.

Silverpaw stood up, licking her chest fur, and said "Sorry, uh, I'll be getting back to my clan now." before scurrying away. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see something different in his eyes. She pushed that thought away and raced back to where the clan was crossing a river.

Silverpaw let out a gasp of amazement. "Wow!" she breathed. "I've never seen so many cats in one area before."

Dewdrop came up behind her. "It's pretty interesting, right?" She flicked her tail towards a group of apprentices of varying clans. "You should go talk to them, and bring the other apprentices with you too. It would do you good to get to know your enemies." Silverpaw nodded quickly before rounding up Volepaw, Mudpaw, Crystalpaw, Lilypaw, and, begrudgingly, Daisypaw. She led the large group of apprentices over to the small group of other clan apprentices.

A small tortoiseshell noticed them coming and her eyes shined with interest. She waved her tail in greeting. "Hi there!" she chirped. "My name's Flowerpaw," she motioned towards a pale ginger tom and a sandy colored tom. "Those are Lightningpaw and Beachpaw. We're from Iceclan. What are your names?"

Silverpaw felt like she was put on the spot. "I'm Silverpaw," she mumbled. She waved her tail towards the apprentices behind her. "Those are Crystalpaw, Volepaw, Mudpaw, Lilypaw, and Daisypaw. We're from Mountainclan. It's nice to meet you, Flowerpaw."

Two other cats stepped forward, one a light gray tabby, and the other a brown she-cat. "Hello," the light gray tabby mewed. "We're from Darkclan, and I'm Shellpaw. This is Mousepaw." She nodded to the timid looking she-cat.

Flowerpaw bounced excitingly. "It's nice to meet all of you! Is this your first gathering?"

All of the apprentices nodded.

"Me too!" Flowerpaw mewed happily. "This is so exciting!"

Beachpaw placed his paw on her tail to stop her from jumping around. "Stop being so weird, they're our enemies, you know."

Flowerpaw frowned. "That may be true, but that doesn't mean we can't be polite."

"I think your excitement has far exceeded the point of 'polite,'" he said, rolling his eyes.

The group began to talk about different things, and Silverpaw ended up having a lot of fun meeting others. She listened attentively to the other leaders and puffed her chest up in pride when Mountainstar announced them as new apprentices. Silverpaw had eventually started to like the other apprentices, but deep down, she knew she couldn't get close to any of them.

After a while, the gathering was over. Silverpaw couldn't help but notice how Darkstar kept shooting glares at Mountainstar. Mountainstar didn't seem to notice as he rounded up the clan to go home. Silverpaw followed her fellow apprentices before she got the feeling someone was watching her. She whipped her head around and spotted Ice-bergfang turn his head away from her direction and walk away with his clan. Silverpaw watched him go before shaking the thought away.

Exhausted, the moment Silverpaw made it back to camp, she headed straight to her nest and sunk into the bedding, falling asleep immediately.

* * *

The next day, Silverpaw and Crystalpaw went out together with their mentors to hunt.

"Silverpaw, Crystalpaw," Dewdrop mewed. "Today Fogfur and I will be assessing your hunting skills. This isn't a formal assessment. It's just showing us how much you've learned and what areas we need to help you improve." Fogfur nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry," Fogfur added. "We'll be watching you in case something goes wrong. Just do your best and come back before sunhigh." The apprentices nodded before racing off in opposite directions.

Silverpaw had been hunting for what felt like forever. The sun was shining through the trees and warmed Silverpaw's pelt. She had managed to catch two voles, a bird, and a squirrel during the time the mentor's had given them. It was almost sunhigh, but Silverpaw felt like she had enough time as she walked around, sniffing the air. She headed towards the Darkclan border and looked across it to find two Darkclan cats further down the border suspiciously staring into her territory. Silverpaw narrowed her eyes but didn't have the courage to confront them. She was, after all, an apprentice and she knew that if they attacked, two full grown warriors against a half-trained apprentice wouldn't end well. Silverpaw took note of their appearances and headed off to meet up with the others.

Silverpaw pushed through the bushes, carrying a large load of prey. She set it down and saw Fogfur and Dewdrop sitting in the center of a clearing. Dewdrop gazed at Silverpaw proudly.

"Well done, Silverpaw!" Dewdrop purred. "You'll turn out to be an excellent hunter." Silverpaw puffed her chest with pride.

Fogfur was sniffing the air and her tail flicked around impatiently. "Where's Crystalpaw?" she mewed worriedly. "She's supposed to be back by now. It's past sunhigh!"

"Weren't you watching her while she hunted?" Dewdrop asked.

"I was, but then she started walking in the direction of the clearing so I just assumed she was going there and I decided to meet her here," Fogfur mewed. "Now I'm starting to regret that I didn't wait until I was _sure_ she was heading back."

"I'm sure she's fine," Dewdrop placed her tail on Fogfur's shoulder. "Crystalpaw must've just stopped to hunt more or she took a different route."

"I think we should go look for her," Silverpaw mewed. "It's not like her to be late." Dewdrop sighed before nodding her head in agreement and headed into the undergrowth.

Everyone was starting to really get worried. The sun had already set and Crystalpaw was yet to be found. Mountainstar even sent out a search party to go to the borders and look there. Meanwhile, Dewdrop continued to follow her trail. Crystalpaw's trail was starting to get very faint, so tracking had become much more difficult. Suddenly, Dewdrop's head bolted up and she started looking around furiously.

"What's wrong?" Fogfur demanded.

"Crystalpaw's scent is getting stronger," Dewdrop broke into a run.

Silverpaw struggled to keep up. "Why are we running?" Fogfur yowled.

"Something's definitely not right. I can smell her blood," Dewdrop panted as she raced through the forest towards the border that led to unknown territory.

They screeched to a halt as Dewdrop stopped to smell the air. The bushes in front of them started to rustle as Crystalpaw staggered out into the open. Silverpaw gasped in horror. Her best friend was covered in scratches and bite marks. She had a large gash running along her stomach. Blood covered every part of her body. Silverpaw couldn't move at the sight of her friend. Blood roared in her ears and everything seemed to be distant and noises echoed. Even when Dewdrop ordered her to fetch Leaffeather, Silverpaw felt rooted to the ground.

Fogfur raced to her side. "Crystalpaw? Crystalpaw! What happened to you?"

Crystalpaw opened her mouth to respond, but before words could come out, she collapsed onto the forest floor. Silverpaw felt numb. Nothing was processing through her mind and she didn't even realize that Dewdrop had left to get help. It was as if time slowed as she heard Fogfur's piercing cry.

"Crystalpaw! No!"


	12. Chapter 11

Time seemed to pass like a blur. It felt like only two heartbeats had passsd before Leaffeather and Snowpaw arrived with a few warriors. Silverpaw stood, frozen in horror as her clanmates frantically helped Crystalpaw and carried her back to camp. Silverpaw couldn't move. All she could do was stare at the spot where Crystalpaw collapsed. The grass was stained with blood. Dewdrop moved in front of Silverpaw and slowly guided her back towards camp. Dewdrop could see that Silverpaw was visibly shaking. She gave her apprentice a reassuring look before disappearing in Mountainstar's den. Out of the corner of Silverpaw's eye, she could see Leaffeather bending over Crystalpaw, and Snowpaw was running back and forth from the herb store to Leaffeather's side to fetch whatever was needed.

Silverpaw slowly approached. She couldn't bear to see Crystalpaw's battered body. Snowpaw rushed up to Silverpaw with a bundle of leaves, dropped them on the ground, and touched noses with her. Silverpaw relaxed at her sisters' touch.

"How're you feeling?" Snowpaw asked gently.

"I don't know," Silverpaw mumbled. She wanted to ask how Crystalpaw was, but she hesitated. Silverpaw didn't know whether or not she'd like the news.

Snowpaw seemed to read what Silverpaw wanted to ask. "I'm sure Crystalpaw will be fine. Leaffeather is the best medicine cat we could have. I'm sure of it." She brushed her flank against her sister's affectionately.

"It's not like I don't trust Leaffeather," Silverpaw began. "It's just… how she looked. I-I can't bear to see anycat like that ever." Silverpaw trembled at the memory.

Snowpaw pushed the bundle of leaves towards her sister. "Here," Silverpaw gave her a questioning look. "It's thyme," Snowpaw explained confidently. "It'll help calm you down."

Silverpaw didn't hesitate to eat them. Within a heartbeat, she began to feel more calm and relaxed.

"Leaffeather is doing the best she can," Snowpaw explained. "She told me that Crystalpaw's wounds are pretty severe, but she also passed out from shock. She is, after all, still young so she might have been traumatized by what happened to her." Silverpaw nodded, but deep down, she still felt uneasy.

Snowpaw ran her tail along her sister's spine. "Get some rest, you look exhausted. You were hunting all morning."

"I want to be with Crystalpaw when she wakes up," Silverpaw protested.

Snowpaw gave her a firm stare. "I'm your medicine cat now, Silverpaw, and I'm telling you to get some sleep."

Silverpaw rolled her eyes in amusement. "Alright then _medicine cat_," she teased. "I'll see you later." Silverpaw turned around and started heading towards the apprentices den.

Dewdrop saw her pass by and padded up to her. "Silverpaw, how are you feeling?"

"A bit better," Silverpaw admitted. "Snowpaw helped me feel better, and she gave me herbs to calm down."

Dewdrop flicked her tail impressively. "Snowpaw's turning out to be a great medicine cat."

"She already is," Silverpaw mewed.

"I'm sure Leaffeather is doing a great job teaching Snowpaw," Dewdrop nodded. "Also, I wanted to personally tell you that you did excellent on your hunt. Your skills have improved tremendously, and I'm proud of you."

Silverpaw's eyes shined brightly. "Thank you, Dewdrop, but it was mostly luck. Plus, it is the middle of greenleaf, so there was lots of prey available."

Dewdrop nodded, "Modesty is a fine attribute in a warrior. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing how you fare as a warrior."

Silverpaw gave her mentor a look of appreciation before letting out a yawn. "Can you wake me if Crystalpaw wakes up?" she asked. Dewdrop nodded and Silverpaw retreated to her nest and fell asleep.

* * *

_**Crystalpaw's P.O.V**_

Crystalpaw woke up and felt like she rolled in a patch of thorns. Everything felt sore. She could smell the strong scent of herbs around her and noticed Leaffeather was sniffing the wound on her stomach.

"Where am I?" Crystalpaw asked, groggily.

"You're in the medicine den," Leaffeather continued inspecting her injuries. "Silverpaw, Fogfur, and Dewdrop found you out in the forest, so we brought you home." Crystalpaw tried to prop herself up, but let out a gasp as her front leg buckled and she fell back on the floor.

Leaffeather shook her head. "Don't try to get up, or you might reopen your wounds." She took one last sniff of her gash before walking into the store and bringing out some herbs. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Other than the fact that I felt like I got ripped into shreds?" Crystalpaw asked sarcastically. "My head hurts a bit, but it's not too bad."

"You hit your head pretty hard on something, but you'll live," Leaffeather told her. "Aside from that, the thing I'm most worried about is your stomach wound. There's a possibility it'll get infected." Crystalpaw stiffened. "I'll do my best, but it might take a while longer for it to heal. You also have to be confined to the medicine den for a couple days until I think you can return to the apprentice's den. Even then, you'd have to wait until I was positive you wouldn't reopen your wound, then you could return to your training."

Crystalpaw slumped her head back and let out a groan of annoyance. Snowpaw poked her head through the medicine den's entrance. "Crystalpaw!" she greeted. "You're awake!"

"Yes, and I don't feel very good. I also can't do anything for the next couple of days."

"I'm sure you'll be caught up in no time," Snowpaw pushed her way into the den. "You're a fast learner!" Snowpaw pushed forward a ball of moss that was soaked in water. "I thought you'd be thirsty, so I brought you this."

Crystalpaw thanked her and lapped up the water from the moss. "Silverpaw's coming too," Snowpaw mewed. "She wanted to bring you your favorite, and she wanted to make sure it was fresh."

Not a moment later, Silverpaw padded into the den with a rabbit hanging from her jaws. She set it down and stared at Crystalpaw. She could see all the herbs where she was injured.

"Hi, Crystalpaw," Silverpaw pushed the rabbit towards Crystalpaw. "How are you?"

"Feeling better, thanks," Crystalpaw took a large mouthful of rabbit. "How long was I unconscious?"

"Not as long as you think," Snowpaw mewed. "The sun is just starting to set."

"What about Fogfur?"

"She's sleeping," Leaffeather mewed. "I gave her poppy seeds to calm down and rest."

"Crystalpaw," Silverpaw began. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Crystalpaw paused. Memories began to flood her head as she remembered. "I was hunting near the border," she started slowly. "I could smell something strange, so I started to investigate. Once I neared the border, a pair of foxes jumped out at me and attacked me. I think they were after the prey that I'd caught. I tried to get away, but they flung me around and hurt me really badly."

Silverpaw's eyes widened and she stiffened with horror. "That's not all," Crystalpaw continued, trembling at the memory. "I heard more of them. More foxes that were just outside of the border. There were at least two more foxes, but there were also fox cubs. I managed to get away somehow, but they took my prey. That's when I stumbled into Dewdrop and Fogfur and collapsed."

Everyone fell silent. Leaffeather slipped away and murmured, "I'll report this to Mountainstar. He'll want to know."

Snowpaw and Silverpaw drew closer to their friend and comforted her. "I thought that those bites were from a fox," Snowpaw mewed. "They looked sour, and I remembered Leaffeather said that if a bite is sour, it may be from a badger or a fox."

Crystalpaw drew herself deeper in her nest. "I was so scared," they could see the fear in her eyes and feel her fur trembling. "I thought I was going to die by myself. I could never wish that upon anyone ever. I never want to experience that ever again."

"You won't," Silverpaw mewed fiercely. Snowpaw looked at her sister with surprise. "You won't ever feel that fear again. You'll have your clanmates beside you." Crystalpaw gave her friend a grateful look before she fell asleep once more.

Silverpaw picked up the half eaten rabbit and left the medicine den. She placed it on the pile of half eaten prey. "What do we do now?" Silverpaw asked her sister.

"I guess we wait and see what Mountainstar decides to do," Snowpaw shrugged.

"I think we should drive out those foxes for good," Snowpaw looked up to see her sister's eyes blazing with fury. "They can't get away with hurting one of our clanmates!"

Snowpaw purred, "I'm glad you feel that way." She touched her muzzle to her sister's cheek. "We'll get our revenge, one way or another."

* * *

_**Unknown P.O.V (first person)**_

I narrowed my eyes and squinted to see the Mountainclan camp. I shifted my paws to make sure I didn't fall off the tree branch I was crouched on as my eyes gleamed with glee and anticipation. I couldn't believe it took me so long to find the camp! It was pretty well hidden, I had to admit that.

_Finally!_ I thought, slowly making my way away from camp. I had all the information I needed.

_We'll have our vengeance!_

* * *

_**A/N: I've decided to try to update once a week at least. I'm not sure how long this story will last or what day I'll upload on, probably Sundays. Thank you JaedDragon777 for being my beta for this story! I hope you enjoyed!**_


	13. Chapter 12

The last few days had passed by quickly. Mountainstar had decided to investigate the foxes instead of attacking blindly. He sent a patrol to find where the fox's den was. Crystalpaw had started to heal, but the process was taking longer than usual as her stomach wound had a hint of infection, but was healing bit by bit. At least she was allowed to return to the apprentice's den, but she wasn't allowed to train.

Based on the information Crystalpaw shared, Mountainstar decided to send a group of warriors, along with himself, to attack the foxes and drive them away for good.

At sunhigh, Mountainstar leaped onto the Tall Rock and yowled. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather to hear my words!"

Once the clan had settled in the clearing, Mountainstar spoke. "In exactly three sunrises, we will drive out those foxes." The clan let out cheers of excitement. Mountainstar raised his tail for silence. "The following warriors will join the patrol. This could be a dangerous mission, so I've decided to prohibit apprentices from going." Silverpaw was probably imagining things, but she swore she saw him glance knowingly at the group of apprentices for a heartbeat before turning his attention back to the clan. Mountainstar began listing the names of those who were going on the patrol.

Crystalpaw gently nudged Silverpaw to catch her attention. "Did you see Mountainstar look at us when he said no apprentices?" she whispered.

"I saw, but I thought I was just imagining things," Silverpaw replied.

"He was probably referring to when Mudpaw and the others snuck out during the Darkclan battle," Crystalpaw sighed. "Now I feel like no one will ever forget that happened."

"I'm sure the clan will forget," Silverpaw reassured her. "We were only just made apprentices and we didn't know any better. It only happened a few moons ago."

Crystalpaw sighed. "I suppose so," she mewed.

By then, Mountainstar had finished listing the cats. "Snowybramble is in charge here at camp," he mewed as he dismissed the clan and leaped down from the Tall Rock.

Snowpaw ran up to Silverpaw and greeted her. "Silverpaw, Leaffeather wants to see if you'd like to do us a favor." Silverpaw gave her a confused look but followed her towards the medicine den.

As she pushed through the entrance, she spotted Leaffeather sorting out herbs and placing them in a leaf wrap. She noticed them come in and gestured for them to sit down.

"Silverpaw, you may remember when Snowpaw and I went to the Darkclan battle to treat injuries," Leaffeather mewed. Silverpaw nodded. She remembered Snowpaw telling Silverpaw about the battle. "Well, this one will most likely be more chaotic and cause more injuries, so I was hoping you would like to come with us to help us out in case we need it."

Silverpaw hesitated. "Come with you, as in go into battle?"

"Of course not," Leaffeather mewed. "We'll be off to the side and helping any cat that gets injured. Grassstream will be here at camp to help any cat who happens to get unwell or injured while we're gone."

"I'll do my best," Silverpaw agreed. Leaffeather gave her a grateful look before going back to her herbs.

Silverpaw followed her sister outside. "Why was Leaffeather preparing herbs for the battle when it's still three days away?"

"Leaffeather is the type of cat who likes to prepare everything ahead of time if she can." Snowpaw purred.

The sun had just started to set. "I'm going to try to hunt for a little bit before dusk," Silverpaw mewed. "I'll talk to you later." Snowpaw nodded before turning around and padding back into the den.

After Dewdrop begrudgingly allowed Silverpaw to hunt on her own, Silverpaw raced into the forest. The warm greenleaf air felt fresh and soothing as Silverpaw took a deep breath. She tried to hunt, but for some reason, she seemed more distracted today than normal. Silverpaw thought it was because of the upcoming battle, but when she thought about it, it didn't seem to worry her too much.

A little while later, Silverpaw had managed to catch a pair of mice. She buried them under a tree and began stalking a bird. She slowly approached it from behind, before launching herself at it, catching it off guard and sinking her teeth into its neck. She sat up triumphantly with the bird dangling in her jaws.

"Nice catch!" Silverpaw whirled around to find Volepaw pushing through the bushes to approach her.

"Volepaw," Silverpaw dropped her catch. "You startled me."

"Sorry about that," Volepaw apologized. "I was looking for you, and Snowpaw told me you went hunting, so I thought I'd join you."

Silverpaw nodded. "Sure, I was going to see if I could get a rabbit for Waterfall and Waspclaw."

Volepaw buried the bird with the mice. "Let's go find one then!" he purred.

The moment it hit dusk, the pair had managed to find a rabbit deep within Mountainclan's territory. Silverpaw crouched down, hidden within the bushes with Volepaw next to her.

"Okay, Volepaw I want you to sneak around the rabbit and wait on the other side. I'll scare it towards you and you can catch it." Volepaw nodded in agreement before slowly stalking his way through the undergrowth to the opposite side. Once he was in position, Silverpaw lunged out towards the rabbit, landing just in front of it. The rabbit let out a squeak of terror before running the opposite way. Volepaw exploded out from his hiding spot and landed on the rabbit, pinning it down for a heartbeat before killing it with a quick bite.

Volepaw sat up, pride shining in his eyes. Silverpaw padded up to him. "Good job," she acknowledged. "You actually caught it this time."

Volepaw flattened his ears teasingly. "You're right. Not like last time we tried doing that together. Maybe this time I'll catch you!" he pounced on Silverpaw and knocked her off her feet.

Silverpaw rolled off to the side and jumped to her feet. She lunged towards Volepaw and grabbed him by the scruff before dragging him across the ground.

Volepaw struggled to get free. "Hey! Let go of me!" he mewed, his paw flailing in the air.

Silverpaw's gleamed. "Oh, so you want me to stop? You're the one who started it," she mewed before dropping him to the ground.

Volepaw stood up, shaking his fur out. "You got me all dirty and dusty now," he complained.

Silverpaw flicked her tail dismissively. "You'll live," she sniffed.

Volepaw rolled his eyes as he purred in amusement. "Yeah, whatever. Let's get back to camp," he picked up the rabbit and headed off towards camp.

On the way back, Silverpaw picked up her previously caught prey and followed him back. They pushed through the camp entrance with prey in their jaws and pride in their expressions. As they lay their catch on the fresh-kill pile, Dewdrop and Icepelt approached them.

"Great job, Silverpaw, Volepaw," Dewdrop praised them.

Icepelt nodded in agreement. "Yes, we're very proud of you both. You two can each take a piece of prey and get some rest."

"Tomorrow, all of the apprentices will learn and practice battle moves," Dewdrop mewed. "So make sure that you all sleep well and wake up early. Don't be late. Go and inform the other apprentices as well." Silverpaw nodded before picking out the rabbit they caught and taking it to the nursery.

She ducked down and walked inside and was tackled by Rosekit once again. "Rosekit!" she mewed. "I missed you too."

Rosekit looked up at the rabbit with wide eyes. "Is that for us?" she mewed excitedly.

"I brought it just for you and your siblings," Silverpaw purred. "And it's for the other kits as well."

Beetlekit and Woodkit padded over from across the nursery. "Is that a rabbit?" Woodkit poked it with a paw. "It's nearly as big as me!"

Silverpaw glanced at Waspclaw surprisingly. "Waspclaw, when did you have these kits?"

"I had them when you left for your hunting assignment. It's okay that you didn't know," Waspclaw replied.

"Sorry," Silverpaw felt embarrassed.

Waspclaw flicked her tail. "It's no big deal," she reassured her. "By the way, thanks for the food." Silverpaw nodded. She said her goodbyes to Rosekit and left the nursery.

As she left, she noticed Crystalpaw waiting for her at the entrance of the apprentice's den. "Were you hunting with Volepaw?" she asked.

"Yeah," Silverpaw replied, pushing into the den with Crystalpaw at her heels. Lilypaw was sound asleep in her nest. "Volepaw caught up to me as I was hunting."

"I know," Silverpaw gave her a perplexed look. "He was asking me where you went, and when I told him I didn't know, he looked really sad and started asking everyone else."

"Huh," Silverpaw murmured. "That's sort of strange."

"Not really," Crystalpaw mewed. "I'm not too surprised, actually." Crystalpaw gave Silverpaw a knowing look before settling into her nest. Silverpaw curled up in her nest, but couldn't help but wondering what Crystalpaw had meant by that look.

* * *

The next day, Silverpaw made sure to wake up early so that they would have plenty of time to work on their battle moves. All six of the apprentices met up at the training clearing and practiced with each other and their mentors. By the end of the session, everyone was exhausted. The apprentices returned to camp and had a nice meal. After that, Silverpaw decided to go talk to Snowpaw about the battle. Snowpaw taught her sister the basic herbs that they would be taking to the battle so Silverpaw wouldn't be clueless.

The day after that, Dewdrop, Eagleshadow, and Icepelt along with Silverpaw, Daisypaw, and Volepaw decided to have their own training session.

"Today, we're going to see how much you learned yesterday and what you need to improve on based on those moves, such as your mobility, speed, endurance, or strength," Dewdrop explained. The apprentices nodded. "First up is Volepaw and Silverpaw."

Silverpaw and Volepaw padded to the clearing and dropped down into crouches. They circled each other before Volepaw launched himself at her. Silverpaw quickly darted to the side and Volepaw landed into the grass. Silverpaw ran in and gave him a couple blows to the ears before Volepaw jumped to his feet and lunged again. This time, Silverpaw wasn't as prepared as she got bowled over by Volepaw. Silverpaw struggled under Volepaw's grip before she twisted and managed to wriggle free. Volepaw turned to face her before rearing up on his hind legs. Silverpaw did the same, but before they could collide she ducked down to dodge his paws before diving under his belly and pushing him up and knocking him off his feet. Volepaw landed on his side with an "oof". Silverpaw lunged at him and pinned him down with one paw on his chest.

"That's enough," Silverpaw took a few steps backwards, allowing Volepaw to get up. "You both did great," Dewdrop mewed.

Daisypaw rolled her eyes and let out a snort. "Volepaw did good, sure, but Silverpaw needs _a lot_ of work. How is she supposed to battle properly, or even improve at all if she can't stay on her paws and gets knocked over so easily? She's basically like a plant that gets blown away when there's even the slightest gust of wind. If she doesn't get any better with that pitiful balance, then she'll be an embarrassment to our clan."

Silverpaw's eyes flashed with anger. She took a step forward and took a deep breath. "I don't need criticism from the likes of you, Daisypaw," Silverpaw growled. "In fact, I bet I could beat you easily."

Daisypaw rolled her eyes. "You could try," she sniffed. "Don't forget, I'm the one who actually helped during the battle against Darkclan. Everyone else was just standing around. So, I'm the only one out of us that has real battle experience."

"You helped your father, I admit that," Silverpaw began. "But that's only one cat. I saved three kits from a _fox_ of all things. I bet those Darkclan warriors went easy on you because you look like a puny apprentice. A fox would fight as hard as it could against anyone in its path."

Volepaw tried to stop them. "Hey, stop arguing. It's no use to argue over something as insignificant as-"

Daisypaw's gaze swept to him. "Who's side are you even on?"

Volepaw shrunk back and kept his mouth shut.

Daisypaw threw her head up. "Shut up, Silverpaw! You think you're so high and mighty because you and your medicine cat sister are complete mysteries because no one knows who your parents are, so you're never judged based off of that! You think you're so great, catching prey on your first day as an apprentice. You think you're so admirable because you fought off a dumb fox and saved kits! You know what? I think you purposely led those kits out and lured the fox there so that you'd be there to save the day and be smug about it!" Daisypaw was shaking with fury. Her pelt bushed up and her ears were flattened.

Silverpaw curled her lips back and unsheathed her claws. "How dare you-"

"Quiet, both of you!" Dewdrop commanded. "I've heard quite enough from this squabbling. Now both of you, stop this immediately."

Daisypaw couldn't take it. "Stay out of this!" she yowled before slashing her claws across Dewdrop's muzzle.

Silverpaw let out a gasp as she raced to her side. Dewdrop's eyes blazed. "You dare attack a senior warrior? I've seen the qualities you lack. You clearly lack self-control and respect. You need to learn to respect your fellow apprentices and learn to control yourself when you're angry. I'll be letting Eagleshadow decide what to do with you."

Daisypaw stood, frozen with horror. "I didn't- I mean, I didn't mean to-"

Eagleshadow silenced her with a glare, but said nothing. Silverpaw followed Dewdrop, Volepaw, and Icepelt back to camp. Eagleshadow gave Daisypaw one last look before turning away and heading back to camp. Daisypaw trailed behind them.

_What have I done?_


End file.
